Nobody Said It Was Easy
by Fire Girl125
Summary: Follow the journey's of Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Brittany and Santana after their breakups. Will they find themselves back to each other or will they be torn apart forever? Nobody ever said it was easy. Finchel, Brittana, Klaine
1. Rachel: Don't You (Forget About Me)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It's obvious. :)**

* * *

_Things had been completely weird ever since Finn and I had broken up in the auditorium of William McKinley. What else was I supposed to do? Last year during our senior year, Finn was my world. Now we were in two separate worlds. I had to admit, the break up between Finn and I was hard, but I was able to keep myself busy. I did extra dance classes at NYADA, watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" repeatedly with a gigantic tub of chocolate ice cream and consoled the broken heart of Kurt. Kurt and Blaine were what I considered soul mates, that was until Blaine "poked" someone on Facebook and ended up cheating on Kurt out of loneliness. I never understood the aspect of "poking" someone. I found it odd. I decided to focus my new spare time on my goals. Maybe it wasn't a time for me to focus on boys. Maybe it was a time for me to end up on Broadway and make something of myself. One thing was certain—Finn wasn't going to be a part of my plans. We were separated from different goals. I was in New York following my dream of being rich and successful. Finn was what Noah Puckerman called "a Lima loser."_

* * *

Rachel Berry entered the room with a bowl of chocolate ice cream—her fourth bowl this afternoon alone. With the day off from school, she was planning on sitting in her loft in Brooklyn with her roommate (and gay best friend) Kurt Hummel watching 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' for the twentieth time this week. Kurt at first didn't mind watching his favorite movie with Rachel, but watching it over and over must have meant that Rachel was in a serious funk. He had to do something.

"Rachel, we've seen this movie so many times, I can actually memorize every line spoken by Aubrey Hepburn." Kurt sighed.

"It's one of my favorite moves." Rachel sounded solemn. She took a bite of her ice cream, staring at the screen.

"Rachel look, I know you're in a funk ever since you and Finn broke up." Kurt tried to sound consoling. "But I can only take so much of this movie. It's a beautiful day, why don't we go outside and enjoy a nice walk."

"Why should we go out there?" Rachel let out a sigh. "It will only remind me of Finn."

"All right, that's it." Kurt shut off the television, getting Rachel's attention.

"Hey! Why did you do that for?"

"Because you need to get up from there and you need to go outside and enjoy the day." Kurt slowly took Rachel's cup of ice cream, walking towards the door with a smile. "So are you going to come out now, or what?"

"How are you doing it?" Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"How am I doing, what?" Kurt turned back around, wondering what Rachel had meant.

"Blaine cheated on you and broke your heart." Rachel pointed out. "How are you just standing there, taking all of the pain and acting like the breakup was nothing?" Kurt didn't admit it, but deep inside, the breakup between Kurt and Blaine really hurt. He thought that Blaine was 'the one' for him. He thought that he and Blaine were going to grow old until they were in their nineties, watching the _Where Are They Now_ shows and living a happy life like in _The Notebook_. Kurt was keeping a strong face for Rachel's sake, and he didn't want to admit that deep down inside, he was hurting.

"Sometimes you have to learn how to forgive others for their actions." Kurt nodded his head, his voice breaking.

"Oh, so are you talking to Blaine again?" Rachel turned her head, putting her hair into a ponytail. Kurt shook his head slowly, trying not to eye Rachel.

"No…" Kurt softly said. "I haven't spoken to Blaine since that day in Central Park." Kurt grabbed the keys to the loft, turning to Rachel. "So, are you ready to go for a walk?"

"All right then." Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "So what should we do today aside from our walk?" Rachel grabbed her jacket and hat from the closet. "Should we go to the bakery, or should we go to Manhattan to watch a play?"

"I had a better idea." Kurt turned to Rachel. "Why don't we go to the karaoke bar that's down the street?"

"You want us to go to the karaoke bar?" Rachel raised her eyebrow. "Is there a reason why?"

"Well, I was just thinking that listening to other people singing makes you feel better and what better way than to spend a Sunday night than with a bunch drunk neighbors, slurring their words, yelling out the wrong lyrics to 'Cotton Eyed Joe'." Kurt gave Rachel a smirk that meant that she would probably want to join him. Rachel couldn't help but laugh. There was no way that she was saying no to an invitation of watching drunken people have a fun night out.

"All right then. I accept." Rachel smiled. "Let's go." Rachel and Kurt headed out the door, on the way to the karaoke bar in order to have some fun for the first time since their breakup with their respective boyfriends.

* * *

At the bar, Rachel and Kurt sat at one of the tables while some drunken men were singing an off-key rendition of 'Just Dance' by Lady Gaga. Rachel didn't want to laugh, but she couldn't help but think that maybe this was the kind of thing that she needed to keep her mind off of one Finn Hudson. Rachel got lost in her thoughts for the moment, thinking about being on the William McKinley High stage for the first time as a member of the Glee Club. They were losers, and they would get slushied every single day, but Rachel remembered seeing Finn for the first time, auditioning with the song 'You're The One That I Want' from one of her favorite musicals 'Grease'. He wasn't bad and he had potential. Three years later, the Glee Club were National Champions and Rachel and Finn graduated High School. Rachel was snapped out of her thoughts when the crowd started applauding. The men finished singing, which meant it was time for the karaoke bar owners to choose another person to sing on karaoke night.

"So, who is going to be the next karaoke contestant?" The man asked, looking around at the bar. Rachel knew that if she was going to feel better about all that had happened, she was going to have to belt out and sing her feelings. She raised her hand, the man turning to her and motioned her to come up on the stage. "And it looks like we have our next contestant. What's your name little lady?"

"My name is Rachel Berry and I am going to be singing 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' by Simple Minds." Rachel announced. The man handed Rachel the microphone and went to stand by the corner of the stage while Rachel looked out at her audience. It was now or never. It was her time to shine. The music started to play as Rachel thought about her and Finn, her emotions building up.

_Hey, hey, hey, hey_

_Won't you come see about me  
I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby  
Tell me, your troubles and doubts  
Giving me everything, inside and out and  
Love's strange, so real in the dark  
Think of the tender things that we were working on  
Slow change might bring us apart  
When the lights get into your heart, baby_

_Don't you forget about me  
Don't, don't, don't, don't  
Don't you forget about me_

_As you walk on by  
Will you call my name  
As you walk on by  
Will you call my name_

_I say,  
La, la, la, la, la  
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la  
La, la, la, la, la  
As you walk on by  
Will you call my name  
Don't you, don't you  
Don't you forget about me!_

Rachel stared at the crowd as they all stood up starting to cheer. She couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. She was able to get the crowd to stand on their feet, excited with the fact that she was good enough to perform in a New York bar.

"And that was Miss Rachel Berry everyone!" The man took the mike from Rachel as she went to take her seat. She noticed Kurt looking at her with a wide smile.

"What made you sing like that?" Kurt asked. Rachel's smile vanished thinking about Finn. No matter what she told herself, she noticed that she wasn't over Finn. Maybe breaking up with him was a mistake. Maybe Finn could have been a part of her world. She just had to know why she felt the way she did.

"If I could admit it…" Rachel softly said before looking back at the stage. "It was Finn." Kurt figured that maybe Rachel was a little tired of sitting there so he decided that it was time they went home. Rachel grabbed her jacket to leave but not before turning back to the stage, holding the star necklace Finn had given her when they had broken up during their junior year and whispered, "Don't you forget about me, Finn."


	2. Brittany: The Story Of Us

_**A/N: Here's chapter two of the story! The song featured in this chapter is "The Story of Us" by Taylor Swift**  
_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the song. Enjoy!**_

* * *

_Santana told me it wasn't really a break up. She told me that we needed a break. That our relationship wasn't working. It felt like a real breakup to me. Just to see if the moment was real, I tasted my tears. My tears were salty. Lord Tubbington told me that when I cry, my tears would taste sweet like candy. Then again, he also told me that bunnies pooped cotton candy and when dogs foam from their mouths, it's really a way of saying that they want to spend time with you. That's the last time I take advice from a cat that's in a Lima Heights gang._

_Being a two time senior is amazing. I'm almost the new Rachel in the Glee Club, I'm the Captain of the Cheerios and I have a GPA that's above 0 for a change. The only thing I wish is to have Santana by my side. Maybe if Santana was by my side, I wouldn't have put that The Smurfs were the president of the United States that earned me a D on my Social Studies test. However, it might have something to do with the fact that I wrote in purple crayon and drew Coach Sylvester with devil horns and a dragon's tail. Maybe-_

* * *

"Brittany?" Sam Evans tapped Brittany Pierce on the shoulder. "What are you doing?" Brittany turned to her blonde friend, realizing that everyone was staring at her.

"Oh, I thought I was doing a voice over in my mind." Brittany didn't realize she was doing it again—saying her voice over out loud. She had done that multiple times before.

"You weren't." Sam shook his head, putting a hand on Brittany's shoulder. "Anyway, are you all right?"

"Other than Santana breaking up with me? Yeah, I think I'll be all right." Brittany admitted. Sam had never seen Brittany so serious, not even in her Britney Spears phase. Then again, they all knew that Brittany was faking it in order to stage her comeback.

"Are you heading to class, because I can walk you." Sam pointed down the hall.

"I would, but I dressed up a freshman to be me and I think the teacher would find it odd that there are two Brittany Pierce's in the school. Surprisingly I thought of that idea all by myself." Brittany quickly nodded her head before making her way to the girls' bathroom. That was where she had spent the classes that the freshman girl had taken for her, listening to the mix tape Santana had made for her on Valentine's Day. Before Brittany made it to the bathroom, she found one of the sophomore cheerleaders, Kitty standing in front with her crew. Kitty secretly was jealous of Brittany since Brittany was the head captain of the Cheerios, but she couldn't admit it. It would have been too easy.

"Oh look, it's the Brittany-sauraus, on her way to Jurassic Park." Kitty said loud enough for the other sophomore cheerleaders to hear. The girls laughed and Brittany was clueless to the fact that Kitty was making fun of her. She thought that Kitty was commending her for the dinosaur prom she made happen last year.

"I actually like dinosaurs, hence on why I threw a dinosaur prom last year." Brittany stated matter-of-factly. Kitty and the other cheerleaders turned to Brittany while Kitty walked to her.

"Listen here two time senior, I will do anything in my power in order to remove you from your status from the Cheerios and I will make sure by the end of the semester, you'll be down in the food chain with your other geeks or as I like to call them 'gleeks'." Brittany didn't look worried as Kitty continued to taunt her. Brittany shrugged her shoulders, went towards the girls bathroom but not before turning back around and smiling at Kitty.

"See you at cheer practice Kitty." With that, Brittany went into the restroom. Kitty didn't understand what was going on. She was _teasing_ Brittany and all Brittany could do was stand there and just play nice? Kitty had to do something about Brittany. There was no way that she was going to get away with this. Not in a million years.

* * *

Brittany was one of the first people to enter the Glee choir room after school that day with a photo book in her hand and her iPod on. She was currently listening to the _Speak Now_ album of Taylor Swift—Santana had told her to listen to it when it came out and Brittany was in love with it ever since. Artie Abrams and Marley Rose entered the Glee room to find Brittany standing there, looking at the empty chairs, wondering if Brittany was all right.

"Brittany?" Artie called out. Brittany turned around, staring at her fellow Glee clubbers.

"Oh, hey." Brittany waved her hand.

"Are you okay, because your clutching a photo album and just standing there listening to Taylor Swift which we can hear from practically the hallway." Marley wondered.

"Oh, I was just thinking about what song I should do for Glee Club." Brittany shrugged her shoulders. "I was thinking 'Gangam Style' but I can't speak gibberish."

"I'm pretty sure that he's singing in Korean." Artie tried to explain to Brittany. Brittany shrugged her shoulders and went to take a seat. She opened her photo book and found a picture of her and Santana kissing last year on Valentine's Day at the famous hot spot, Breadstix. Brittany remembered that her friend Quinn Fabray had taken the photo and handed it to her the next day at Cheerios practice. "The Holy Trinity." That was what Brittany, Santana and Quinn were when they were cheerleaders together in High School. Sometimes she missed being with Quinn and Santana—but mostly Santana. Her lady kisses were ticklish. More members of the Glee club entered the room, taking their seats now just waiting for the head of Glee Club, Will Schuester. Brittany had to admit, Mr. Schuester was a cool teacher. He knew how to rap, he chose the best dance songs so that she wouldn't feel left out from singing and he had a great chin, but Sue Sylvester always called it the 'butt chin'. In fact, she always made fun of Will's greasy hair. Maybe Ms. Sylvester had a crush on Mr. Schuester. It was possible, but then again, Ms. Sylvester didn't like anyone except for her daughter Robin which she happened to name after a Bee Gee. Mr. Schuester entered the room after five minutes followed by Finn Hudson and headed for the blackboard to write down this week's lesson. The words he put down? 'Romance.'

"Romance." Mr. Schuester said, turning around to the kids. "A lot of today's music is inspired by love and heartache. Almost every Top 40 hit on the radio, ends up being about love. Can anyone give me a song that was about love?"

"Happy Birthday." Brittany raised her hand and quickly said, earning her looks from everyone in the room. Brittany turned to her classmates and quickly put her hand down. "I thought we were talking about our favorite songs."

"Almost every song that is out here is about love." Mr. Schuester turned back to the board to point at it. "This is what we're going to be focusing on. Does anyone want to get up here and try to sing a song right now about love or anything that has to do with love?" The others were hesitant to go up there, so Brittany shot her hand in the air again. "Yes, Brittany?"

"I have a song that's about love." Brittany said.

"It's not going to be Happy Birthday, is it?" Jake Puckerman spun around in his seat to look at the blonde cheerleader.

"No, it's not Happy Birthday, although I love that song." Brittany made her way to the front of the room. "It's a song that I played when I got home the day that Santana broke up with me."

"All right, let's hear it." Mr. Schuester said. Brittany nodded her head and pointed to the piano, guitar and drum players. This song that she was about to sing made her feel something. It made her cry. It made her want to ask Lord Tubbington to lose five pounds by joining Weight Watchers.

_I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us  
How we met and the sparks flew instantly  
And people would say were the lucky ones  
I used to know my place was a spot next to you  
Now I'm searching the room for an empty seat  
And lately I don't even know what page we're on_

_Oh, I'm scared to see the ending  
Why are we pretending this is nothing  
I'd tell you I love you but I don't know how  
I never heard silence quite this loud._

_Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking  
And I'm dying to know if it's killing you like it's killing me and  
I don't know what to say is this a twist of fate when it all broke down  
And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now_

_This is looking like a contest  
Of who can act like they care less  
But I liked it better when you were on my side  
The battle's in your hands now  
But I would lay my armor down  
If you say you'd rather love than fight_

_So many things that you wish I knew  
That the story of us might be ending soon_

_Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking  
And I'm dying to know if it's killing you like it's killing me and  
I don't know what to say is this a twist of fate cause we're going down  
And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now_

_The end_

Brittany earned herself a hand for her rendition of the song. She didn't even know that she had it in her to sing country. At first, Brittany felt that she was bitter since Santana broke up with her, but in the end, she just wished that the story of them would continue and that it would never ever end.

"That was fantastic Brittany." Mr. Schuester applauded. "Good work."

"Since this week is about romance, I am going to dedicate my entire week to singing nothing but Taylor Swift songs." Brittany said while the others looked at her.

"So you're going to sing nothing but Taylor Swift?" Tina Cohen-Chang wondered.

"But there are tons of other artists out there." Mr. Schuester shrugged his shoulders. "Why would you choose just Taylor Swift?"

"Because Mr. Schue, Taylor Swift writes as if she's writing to me." Brittany shrugged her shoulders. "Also, Santana was still with me when we were listening to all of Taylor Swift's _Speak Now_ songs on the album. I also find that if you listen to Taylor Swift, crime rate and slushy rates go down by 66.6%, but then again how should I know since I made the number up." The other students didn't really think it was possible that Brittany could dedicate the entire week to Taylor Swift, could she? The other students were thinking it—they needed Santana to come to McKinley and talk some sense into Brittany. It was the only way they were going to have avoid Brittany trying to copy another celebrity's style and antics.


	3. Finn, Rachel & Kurt: Rhythm Of Love

_**A/N: Here's chapter three! The last chapter I'm posting tonight. Most likely I'll post another one tomorrow. This chapter's song is "Rhythm Of Love" by the Plain White T's. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee (or the song). Reviews are appreciated. :)**  
_

* * *

_After Rachel breaking up with me, things have been tough. I had no job, I had no girl. I had nothing. I was what my friend Puck called a "Lima Loser." At first after graduation, I was planning on going with Rachel and Kurt to New York. I had applied to the Actors Studio but I was rejected. When I heard that Rachel was going to put everything on hold for me, I knew I had to do something. I had to send her on that train to New York. But I wasn't just making Rachel follow her dreams, I was going to follow mine. I was going to redeem my dad and make him proud. Unfortunately, I didn't make it a month into the academy. Sixteen days later, I shot myself in the thigh and had a semi-honorable discharge. Now, I was back in Lima, Ohio helping Mr. Schuester run the Glee club while he prepared to go to Washington. One of the last lessons he gave before heading off was 'romance'. After Brittany sang Taylor Swift in Glee Club, I couldn't help but feel a void—like I was waiting for Rachel to say something slightly annoying and yet true. She would have been appalled that Brittany chose to sing Taylor Swift for the rest of the week, but it is what it is. Brittany was off doing what she loved. Rachel was off in New York doing what she loved. Me? I was stuck in a rut that I had no idea how I was going to get out._

* * *

Finn Hudson stared at the Glee Club Nationals trophy that they won the year before. Their rendition of 'Edge of Glory', 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now' and 'Paradise By The Dashboard Light' was just enough to snag the top spot of the competition and make the Glee Club not seem like a loser club. The best part was that Finn had Rachel there to share it with him. With all the ups and the downs they had, he never thought that he could feel so depressed. She had broken things off with him, probably dating Brody Weston—probably doing things with Brody that he didn't want to know about. Finn shuddered, and then went back to looking at the trophy. Maybe he had nothing to offer. Maybe he was just going to be a teacher the rest of his life teaching kids how to sing. In truth, Finn loved to sing. However, he realized he loved to sing with Rachel. He called her, multiple times ever since the breakup. She only picked up the first call and said what he had been expecting; she insisted that he needed time away from her, and maybe she was right—but he knew that he needed her. He could feel it. If only he could find a way to win her back, that way he wouldn't be so depressed and he could get out of his funk. Finn was going to call Rachel again, maybe this time she'll pick up and speak to him. He needed to hear her voice once again. Finn took out his cell phone and dialed a number that's area code was in Brooklyn, New York.

* * *

Rachel was on her way back to her loft after a hard dance class with Cassandra July when her cell phone rang. She took her phone out of her pocket to see Finn's number. What did Finn want? Did Rachel not answering the last 40 phone calls not make it very clear the first 40 times? She was about to press ignore, but something stopped her. She stared at the number, hesitating whether to pick it up or not. In the end, she decided to let the phone call go to voicemail and she continued her trek to her apartment. She didn't have anything to say to Finn. He needed some time to think. And she couldn't find herself pining for Finn again until she was sure of what she wanted either.

* * *

Finn closed the phone in despair. Rachel didn't want to speak with him. She didn't want anything to _do_ with him. She was just ignoring him like everyone else here. Finn looked at the lesson on the board and grimaced. _Romance_. Finn didn't even _have_ romance in his life to even think of a song to sing for Glee Club. Sure, he didn't have to participate in singing for the week but if Mr. Schue did it then so could Finn. This week however, he didn't have anything to say about romance. He lost the one girl that he loved. He lost Rachel.

Finn had to admit that he was confused about who he loved in High School. He dated both Rachel and Quinn in High School and frankly dating both of them turned out to be stress. Quinn lied that she was pregnant with his baby. Rachel cheated on Finn with Puck. However, Finn found himself to have a bigger connection with Rachel. That was the reason that he ultimately broke up with Quinn. Because he knew at that moment that he loved Rachel, and she was 'the one' for him.

"Finn?" A voice called out after him. Finn turned around to find Brittany standing there in a daze.

"Something wrong Brittany?" Finn was slightly confused as to why Brittany was talking to him. He went on one date with her (with Santana) and that proved to be a handful. They made him leave his credit card at the table—and made him go to his car!

"I need to ask you for advice." Brittany admitted. Finn knew where this was going, or at least he thought.

"Brittany, there is no such thing as a magical sugar castle that you can find if you give a leprechaun your underwear." Finn tried to walk out the door but Brittany stopped him, her face looking serious.

"At this moment, I am not interested in trying to find the magical sugar castle. Although if you have that information, don't be afraid to tell me." Brittany sat down on the stool nearest to her before turning to Finn. "How did you deal with your breakup with Rachel?"

"My breakup with Rachel?" Finn repeated to make sure that he heard Brittany correctly.

"Precisely. All I've been doing is sitting in my room and crying." Brittany shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm going to let you in on a secret." Finn grabbed a stool and moved it closer towards Brittany. "I have been crying and hollering and screaming because I lost Rachel. But I realized something, she wants a man. So I have to be a man. If I can prove that I'm a man to her then she won't leave me."

"But how exactly do you become a man?" Brittany looked both ways before leaning closer to Finn's ear, as if to tell him a secret. "I heard that all babies are born genderless, but they give the boy babies' testosterone formula. That's how they distinguish girls and boys."

"Being a man is…did you say testosterone formula?" Finn pointed to Brittany while she let out a smile.

"I also learned from SNL the other day that burritos are male tacos." Brittany nodded her head. _Brittany and her randomness, _Finn couldn't help but get a smile on his face. If he needed cheering up, he came to the right girl. Now, he had to figure out how he was going to get Rachel back. There was school break coming up—maybe he could use that time to go to New York and visit Rachel. That was exactly what he was going to do. He was going to go and visit Rachel to win her back, no matter what.

* * *

"I can't believe that you got a call from Finn and you let it go to voicemail!" Kurt practically scolded Rachel that night over dinner. Kurt had just come back from his internship with and heard all about Rachel's adventures.

"Agh, what am I going to do Kurt?" Rachel pondered. "I can't just forgive Finn."

"And why not?" Kurt asked.

"Because, he left for four months and underestimated my feelings as a woman. He thought he was giving me space. In reality, he was just being clueless and insensitive." Rachel huffed. She couldn't believe that Finn could do something that was inconsiderate.

"Well, are you going to talk to him?" Kurt wondered. Rachel raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming on her face.

"I'll call Finn if you talk to Blaine." Rachel tried to get Kurt to agree.

"No." Kurt firmly said, pouring himself more soup.

"But why not?" Rachel asked in the same tone that Kurt had used moments before.

"Because, he cheated on me with some guy on Facebook that he 'poked'." Kurt sounded hurt. "If that was you and Finn, would you take Finn back?"

"Kurt, if you and Blaine love each other like I know you two do, then you will find yourselves back to each other." Rachel assured him.

"I don't know Rachel." Kurt shook his head. That was when that Rachel had a brilliant idea.

"Come on, let's go." Rachel got up from the table and grabbed her jacket. Kurt looked at his watch, giving Rachel a confused look.

"Rachel, are you crazy? It's almost 10 at night. Where are we going at this time?" Rachel threw Kurt his jacket, making sure that he wasn't going to argue any longer. She had a plan.

"Come on, just follow me." Rachel grabbed the loft key from the coffee table.

"Can you just give me a hint of where we're going?" Kurt shook his head.

"Let's just say that you might finally get to see the inside of my school." Rachel let out a playful grin. Kurt had no choice. He and Rachel were going to NYADA at 10 in the night. For what? Who knows?

* * *

At NYADA, Rachel led Kurt to the school's auditorium. Kurt had to admit, he had never been to the school before and he was hoping that he would get a chance to see it. Rachel got up on the stage before pulling Kurt up. He looked out and saw the millions of seats before him. He wasn't expecting something like this. It was beautiful.

"This is a beautiful auditorium." Kurt awed at the view.

"Good, I'm glad you like it." Rachel smiled. "Because we're going to sing."

"Here?" Kurt automatically sounded nervous.

"Oh, come on. You are going to love it." Kurt was surprised by Rachel's eagerness this late at night.

"Am I going to have to tell Cassandra July to give you more dance steps to do?" Kurt joked.

"Oh, hush." Rachel playfully retorted. She pulled out the CD of instrumentals she had in her pocket and went to the radio. "Now, be prepared Kurt, because you are going to be swayed to the rhythm of love." Rachel pressed play as the music started to fill the auditorium.

_(Kurt)  
My head's stuck in the clouds  
She begs me to come down  
Says, "boy quit fooling around"_

_(Rachel)  
I told him, "I love the view from up here."  
Warm sun and wind in my ear  
We'll watch the world from above  
As we sway to the rhythm of love_

_(Both)  
We may only have tonight  
But till the morning sun, you're mine  
You're mine  
Play the music low  
And sway to the music of love_

_(Rachel)  
My heart beats like a drum  
A guitar string to the strum  
A beautiful song to be sung_

_(Kurt)  
She's got blue eyes, deep like the sea  
That roll back when she's laughing at me  
She rises up like the tide  
The moment her lips meet mine_

_(Both)  
We may only have tonight  
But till the morning sun, you're mine  
You're mine  
Play the music low  
And sway to the music of love  
Yeah, sway to the music of love_

After the musical track ended, Rachel and Kurt smiled at one another, glad that they were able to express in song. Rachel turned to Kurt, hoping that she was getting her point across. Kurt had to speak to Blaine again and at least attempt to patch things up.

"So are you going to talk to Blaine?" Rachel wondered. As if on cue, Rachel's cell phone went off. She went into her pocket, to see Finn was the caller. She stared at the phone for a moment, wondering if she should pick it up. At that moment, Kurt let out a smile meaning that he had probably won this round.

"I'll talk to Blaine, if you talk to Finn." Kurt walked over to the radio to get Rachel's CD. "There's no use in being a hypocrite, now is there?" Rachel continued to watch the screen flash Finn's name, and after contemplating, she decided to let it go to voice mail again. Some things couldn't be solved— not even through music. _  
_


	4. Blaine: Not Like The Movies

_**A/N: Here's the brand new chapter of the story. Hope you guys enjoy!**  
_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, or the song in this chapter**_

* * *

_If I could take back that moment where Kurt looked into my eyes and I saw tears, I would do it in a heartbeat. I was lonely when Kurt was in New York with Rachel. I know it's not a valid excuse for cheating—nothing is a valid excuse for cheating, but if I could have Kurt back by my side I probably wouldn't be so depressed. I guess my depression really kicked in when Mr. Schuester announced we were going to do a romance themed week. Anything that has to do with romance—or heartbreak was acceptable. I had been scanning through the music sheets in the library to try to find the perfect song, but alas…nothing. I always scanned music with Kurt and he would know what to pick out, what song was better for my tone of voice and what artists I liked. Now, I wasn't so sure _what _I liked. I did know this—I missed Kurt, and I had to find a way to win him back. Even if it was the last thing I would do._

* * *

Blaine Anderson sat at one of the lunch tables in the cafeteria, staring at a picture of him and Kurt when they were in their happier days. Blaine had missed everything about Kurt. He loved Kurt with all of his heart and was furious at himself for even cheating. He wish he hadn't. He needed to know how Kurt was doing, and what a better way than to ask Kurt's own stepbrother, Finn. Blaine got up from the table and headed off to find Finn. He was probably in the Glee choir room, penciling his first lesson that he was going to teach once he temporarily took over for Mr. Schuester. Blaine knocked on the door, hoping that maybe Finn was in there. It was Blaine's lucky day. Finn continued to work on his paper, but quickly stopped when he realized Blaine was standing right there in front of him.

"Blaine, what's up man?" Finn questioned, putting the pencil down.

"I need to ask you something, and I don't know if you could be willing to answer for me." Blaine shrugged his shoulders. Finn quickly nodded his head and sat in the stool, pointing to the other one so that Blaine could take a seat.

"Sure man, what's going on?" Finn wondered.

"Well, I need to know how Kurt is doing." Blaine solemnly looked at Finn. Finn didn't know if he should answer that or not. Kurt had told him specifically not to answer any of Blaine's questions regarding to him, but Finn knew that deep down inside, Kurt still loved Blaine. Finn nodded his head, leaning closer to Blaine as if he were about to whisper.

"He said that he's doing great. Vogue has been really good to him and if he probably keeps it up then he could be working there and getting paid for it." Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"But has he spoken about me?" Blaine pointed to himself. Finn thought for a moment.

"Yeah, he has spoken about you." Finn nodded his head, but Blaine seemed a bit too eager to know.

"Like what?" Blaine asked. Finn scratched the back of his neck, trying to find a way to explain to Blaine.

"Well, he keeps saying how he never ever wants to see you again, and everything else he mentions he probably talks about with Rachel who—I haven't seen or heard from since my last visit to New York." Finn admitted. Blaine looked heartbroken as Finn spoke. Kurt never wanted to see Blaine again? But, how was that possible? Blaine shook his head before looking back at Finn.

"I need your help." Blaine motioned to Finn. Finn raised his eyebrow, interested in what Blaine probably wanted.

"What is it?" Finn asked.

"Well, I was thinking that I was going to visit Kurt in New York and try to patch everything up after this week. You know, since this week is the last week of school before break." Blaine explained. "And I need to be able to find Kurt and attempt to win him back."

"Funny." Finn thought for a moment, but Blaine didn't take it the way that Finn had meant it.

"What do you mean, _funny_?" Blaine sounded almost insulted.

"No, that's not what I meant." Finn shook his head. "What I meant was, I was going to go and see Rachel after this week was over. Hey, maybe you want to come along and try to win Kurt back."

"That would be great." Blaine quickly said. "I just hope Kurt hasn't found someone new yet."

"I don't think he has. He's crammed up in that Vogue building working nonstop." Finn tried to assure Blaine.

"You don't get it Finn." Blaine sounded a little antsy. "Fashion is like the gay capital of the world. There is bound to be someone at that building that's attracted to Kurt. How am I supposed to compete with that?"

"You're not going to compete with that because there's not going to be anyone for Kurt to see." Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh really? I'd like to believe that." Blaine got up from the stool to head out of the classroom. "I'll take your offer. I'll go to New York with you and I won't come home until Kurt is mine again."

"Even if it means missing school?" Finn asked. Blaine raised an eyebrow, incredulous that Finn had asked such a question. "Yeah, I know. It sounded weird for me to."

"Even if it means me missing school." Blaine vowed. Blaine exited the room, leaving Finn sitting there on the stole, thinking about what had just happened. Did Blaine just sound worried, or was he actually obsessing over this?

* * *

Kurt was on his way home to his loft in Brooklyn after a long day at work. Not only were they trying to figure out the new fall colors for this year's designs, but Kurt was practically forced to sit alongside Isabelle Wright in meetings about what they should have planned for the Spring Fashion Show. Kurt had a lot on his plate, and the only way he was going to figure that out was with a nice bowl of dinner and watching 'Project Runway' with Rachel. Ever since Blaine had been ejected from Kurt's life, things had been a little quieter, but to Kurt—something was missing. Kurt continued his walk home only to hear his cellphone ring. He went to pick up his cellphone and was quite curious to see that it was Finn calling. Kurt shrugged his shoulders and went ahead to answer the phone call.

"Hello, Finn." Kurt let out a smile.

"_Hey, Kurt._" Finn answered back.

"Let me guess? You need my help in trying to decide what you're going to perform in front of the Glee Club this week?" Kurt wondered.

"_Actually, that's not it. But I did want to say that I'm going to be in New York next week to visit you." _Finn said.

"You're coming to visit me? Or are you coming to visit me and try to win back Rachel?" Kurt knew his stepbrother a little too well.

"_Maybe a little bit of both." _Finn admitted. "_So have you and Blaine talked yet?"_

"No, we haven't talked." Kurt confessed. "And I don't plan on talking to Blaine. He cheated and it hurt."

"_Well, sometimes we have to forgive the ones you love." _Finn said. Kurt was wondering who replaced his brother with someone who was giving some helpful and almost thoughtful advice. "_Yeah, I know what I said was a little…weird."_

"No, what you said makes sense, but I am still _not_ talking to Blaine." Kurt huffed.

"_You wouldn't talk to him even if he flew all the way across the country to see you?"_ Finn wondered.

"There would be no point." Kurt looked into the phone. "I'm already seeing someone." Silence came through the telephone.

"_What? Who?"_ Finn questioned.

"Well, it's not official yet but there's this nice guy at Vogue that plays for the same team, if you catch my drift." Kurt spoke nonchalantly.

"_But Kurt, you're in love with Blaine!"_ Finn protested.

"I _was_ in love with Blaine. _Was_." Kurt sounded tired of talking about his ex. "But I'm not in love with him anymore. He's not in my life anymore. And that's all there is too it. Look, I have to go, I'm going to lose signal in the train." And with that, Kurt closed his phone and went down the stairs to the Times Square station.

* * *

Back at Ohio, Finn ended the call while staring blankly at the screen. Blaine looked at Finn, wondering what he was so worried about. Finn turned his head to Blaine, a sad look on his face. There must have been news, news that Blaine wasn't going to like.

"So Kurt says that he's seeing this guy at Vogue." Finn explained to Blaine. "And I don't know if he means that he doesn't want anything to do with you anymore. I mean, I'm usually good at this stuff where I'm able to decipher what he means, but this time there's a mixed signal." Blaine slowly nodded his head before heading down the hallway to his next class. He was forming a plot in his mind about what song he was going to sing during Glee Club today—and he was expecting there to be tears.

* * *

At Glee Club, Blaine sat in one of the seats not saying a word to anyone else. Everyone began to worry about what was going on here. Brittany had been singing Taylor Swift all throughout the day, (including an odd rendition of "22") while Blaine was looking depressed. The Glee Club was beginning to fall apart. Why? No one knew. Mr. Schuester entered the room, looking at the board to make sure that today's lesson was still up there for all to see. He turned to his students and took a seat on one of the stools.

"All right, so does anyone else have a song that they would like to sing for Glee club this week?" Mr. Schuester wondered. Blaine raised his hand and got up from his chair in one swift motion.

"I have something I'd like to sing." Blaine walked to the front of the room and sat down on the stool. Blaine turned to Finn who was sitting by the drums before turning back to the other students. "This song reminds me that, even when you make mistakes, things don't happen the way that you want to. People move on, the world changes…and I guess life just isn't like the movies where that person will come back to you in the end. They forget all about you…"

_He put it on me, I put it on  
Like there was nothing wrong  
It didn't fit, it wasn't right  
Wasn't just the size  
They say you know  
When you know  
I don't know_

_I didn't need the fairytale feeling, no  
Am I a stupid girl for thinking that I should_

_If it's not like the movies  
That's how it should be, yeah  
When he's the one  
I'll come undone  
And my world will stop spinning  
And that's just the beginning, yeah_

_Cause I know you're out there  
And you're, you're looking for me, oh  
It's a crazy idea that you made perfectly for me  
You'll see_

_Just like the movies  
That's how it will be  
Cinematic and dramatic with the perfect ending, oh_

_It's not like the movies  
That's how it should be, yeah  
When he's the one  
You'll come undone  
And your world will stop spinning  
And it's just the beginning, yeah_

The Glee Club clapped for their "New Rachel" as he looked out at the crowd. The other members noticed that Blaine had tears streaming down his face, and there was no way that he was going to get Kurt back. He might as well just give up. Life wasn't like the movies, so why was he trying so hard to fix the pieces that he broke. If that was the end—then it was the end of "Klaine." And there was nothing—Blaine could do about it._  
_


	5. Santana: Count On Me

_**A/N: Here's a new chapter-and here is where we first hear about none other than Santana! Yay! Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. :)**  
_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the song in this chapter.**_

* * *

_Brittany and I hadn't spoken since the breakup. And I could see why. Even though I promised her that I'd still love her and I only did it because I didn't want to cheat, I wondered if I had done the right thing. Maybe I was only thinking about myself instead of Brittany. And I knew that maybe it was a mistake when I got a phone call from the Glee Club. They told me that Brittany was going off the high end, listening to Taylor Swift songs. They wanted me go to Lima, Ohio and talk sense into Brittany. They wanted me to be the one to play hero. The problem is I was no hero. I was the reason Brittany was acting the way she was acting. I was told during cheerleading practice that Brittany brought a guitar with her and starting singing 'White Horse' in the middle of the gym—and Coach Sylvester thought she needed some mental help. I had to find a way to snap Brittany out of it. I needed to show her that she could still talk to me even though we were broken up. But how was I going to do that? She probably wanted nothing to do with me. If only there was a way that I could make Brittany trust me again. That would solve everything._

* * *

Santana Lopez entered the doors of William McKinley High School, determined to find her ex-girlfriend Brittany. Yes, Brittany was her ex, but it wasn't because Brittany cheated on her or anything. It was because Santana was afraid that she would do something that would make Brittany hurt. Well, Santana's thoughts weren't right on this one. Brittany was still hurt and Santana knew it was her fault, which was why she had to make things right. Santana walked towards the Glee Club, hoping to find Brittany in the room—when she saw Kitty and her crew of sophomore cheerleaders following her. Santana quickly remembered Kitty as the girl who started the fake rapture and was the one that made Brittany realize how it felt to be left behind! Santana crossed her arms as Kitty walked towards her locker but when she saw Santana in her way, she stopped only to stare at her. When Santana was in High School, these hallways were hers. She made out with almost every guy. She was the one that had Puck wrapped around her finger for a bit and even for a while Sam "Trouty Mouth" Evans. She wasn't going to let some wannabe cheerleader try to change the fact that even though she was gone, Santana still owned the school. She needed to be taught a lesson.

"Oh, I remember you." Santana raised her eyebrows giving Kitty a look of disgust. "You're the girl who started the fake rapture."

"And I seem to remember you." Kitty gave Santana the same look. "You were the girl that used to run William McKinley. You had all the boys wanting to follow you—but instead you went all lesbian on them and dated a girl who happened to be your best friend." Kitty gave a hollow chuckle and Santana became insulted.

"And what's that supposed to mean raccoon eyes?" Santana growled.

"Oh, nothing." Kitty tried to play innocent. "But I don't get why you went for a blonde airbag like Brittany. She can't even say the alphabet, let alone spell her own name. She probably had to do ever guy and girl in order to get the top spot on the Cheerios."

"Okay, one thing…don't mess with Brittany." Santana was beginning to get furious.

"Oh, and if I do what are you going to do?" Kitty mocked. "You can't hit me. My uncle's a lawyer and he'll sue you for every penny that you own…on second thought, I won't sue you. Judging by the way that you dress, you probably need every penny that you're going to get."

"Oh, no. You did _not_ just say that I was poor." Santana tied her hair up into a ponytail. That was it. She was going to have to fight this girl. Who did she think she was anyway?

"Seeing that you couldn't pay for college and you had to get a scholarship." Kitty scoffed. "You must be poor."

"You know where I see you in ten to twenty years?" Santana's voice was calm but it was a deathly calm tone. "I see you flipping Burgers at Burger King trying to support a kid that you had when you were only a junior in High School. And notice I didn't say Breadstix. Breadstix wouldn't want someone with a nasty attitude like you, so why don't you take your 'fake white girl bad' attitude and get going? Because you don't want to mess with me. I'm from the other side of Lima adjacent and you know what they do there? Bad things. Bad things go down in Lima adjacent." Santana pointed past her. Kitty looked taken aback for a moment, not sure on how to respond to that. In the end, Kitty huffed and walked past Santana. Santana knew that Kitty wasn't going to harm her—but Santana didn't know that Kitty was out to do something worse to Brittany.

* * *

Brittany was standing by her locker, holding a guitar and pretending to play (let's guess) a Taylor Swift song. This time she was playing 'Sparks Fly', at least she was attempting to. She had the radio going and Taylor Swift singing while Brittany lip-synched and lip-played the guitar. Brittany saw Kitty walking towards her, huffing and puffing, meaning that something was about to go down. Kitty stopped before Brittany, holding out her hand.

"Give me the damn guitar." Kitty's voice sounded stern. Brittany quickly handed Kitty the guitar. _Maybe Kitty wants to pretend to be Taylor Swift with me_. Brittany was way off. In one swift moment, Kitty slammed the guitar to the ground, breaking the guitar in multiple pieces.

"Hey! What did you do that for?" Brittany sounded hurt, and a little defensive. Kitty noticed the photo book that had her and Santana's pictures in Brittany's locker and went for it. She was able to beat Brittany to it and Kitty quickly opened the notebook and started ripping the pictures of Brittany and Santana in half. "STOP! Stop it!" Brittany tried to grab the pictures. Kitty had gotten to almost every single picture—and then there was the one of Brittany and Santana kissing at Breadstix on Valentine's Day. Kitty pointed to the picture, showing Brittany the memory.

"You see this picture?" Kitty said angrily. "And you see the girl that it's in? Well, you can blame her for what I'm about to do." Kitty then ripped the picture in multiple pieces and tossed it in Brittany's face. For the finale, she grabbed the boom box in Brittany's locker and smashed it to the ground—the boom box breaking into twenty million pieces. Brittany watched in shock and in horror as Kitty stormed down the hall, pushing students out the way and entered a nearby classroom. Brittany felt tears come to her eyes, watching the pictures ripped, the guitar broken and most of all, her boom box with the Taylor Swift CD inside ruined. Mr. Schuester noticed the mess in front of Brittany's locker, beginning to wonder what happened and if Brittany was okay.

"Brittany?" Mr. Schuester walked up to her, noticing that her eyes filled with tears. "What happened here?" Brittany slammed her locker, heading towards the girls bathroom in order for her to cry her tears of anger and pain in peace. Mr. Schuester knew something had to have happened. He had to find a way to fix Brittany, before it was too late.

* * *

Brittany ended up being the first person in the Glee choir room, and to her surprise, she saw none other than Santana, sitting at one of the chairs, staring at her. Brittany was confused by what Kitty had meant when she said to blame Santana for what happened. It wasn't Santana that broke her picture album and the guitar, but she had to admit that Santana was the one that had broken her heart and left without saying goodbye. Santana wondered why Brittany's face was puffy eyed and red. Why was Brittany crying? She didn't even know that Santana was here.

"Brittany?" Santana softly said. Brittany turned to Santana, crossing her arms.

"What are you doing here?" Brittany asked in a hushed tone. "I thought you were in college…doing college stuff." Santana patted one of the chairs for Brittany to sit, but Brittany was hesitant.

"I was supposed to be in college, but I got a call from the other Glee club members." Santana admitted. "They told me that you were planning on doing Taylor Swift the rest of the week for this week's theme of romance? Is there a reason why?"

"Well, I told Mr. Schuester that it was because crime rate and slushy rate went down by 66.6%, but I made the number up." Brittany sighed. "And—I don't think I'm doing Taylor Swift anymore this week."

"What's this really about Brittany?" Santana shrugged her shoulder.

"Kitty ripped everything out of my locker." Brittany finally admitted. Santana's eyes widened in shock, hearing what happened to Brittany.

"What did that blonde street rat do?" Santana raised her eyebrows.

"She took out my guitar, the Taylor Swift CD, the boom box and the picture that we had of us kissing last year at Breadstix." Brittany turned her head away from Santana before admitting something she never admitted before. "I've never felt so alone in my whole life." Santana was getting tired of hearing the pity party from Brittany, so she pointed to the chair to force Brittany to take a seat.

"Sit. Now." Santana sternly ordered. Brittany quickly took a seat before facing Santana. "Brittany, you're not alone. You can always count on me to be there, no matter what, okay? Just because I'm not here and you're not with me—it doesn't mean that I'm not a phone call away. I was working on something; do you want to hear it?" Brittany quickly nodded her head, wanting to hear Santana's voice fill the Glee Club room, like she had done in years past.

_If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea  
I'll sail the world, to find you  
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see  
I'll be the light to guide you_

_Find out what we're made of  
When we are called to help our friends in need_

_You can count on me  
Like one, two three  
I'll be there  
And I know when I need it  
I can count on you  
Like four, three, two  
You'll be there  
Cause that's what friends are supposed to do  
Oh yeah, ooooooh, oooooooh, yeah, yeah_

_You'll always have a shoulder to cry on  
I'll never let you go, never say goodbye  
You know_

_You can count on me  
Like one, two three  
I'll be there  
And I know when I need it  
I can count on you  
Like four, three, two  
You'll be there  
Cause that's what friends are supposed to do  
Oh yeah, ooooooh, oooooooh, yeah, yeah_

_You can count on me cause I can count on you_

After Santana finished her rendition of the song, Brittany sat there, her face looking stone cold—and a bit angry. Santana didn't know whether to snap Brittany out of it, or if she should let Brittany process all the emotions at once. Brittany finally realized what she was going to say.

"I hated it." Brittany finally said. Santana looked stunned at what Brittany said.

"What do you mean you hated it?" Santana questioned. "Why? Why did you hate it?"

"Because what you said wasn't true." Brittany began to sound defensive. "Every word that you said was a lie. When I needed you, you weren't there. I had been here alone, waiting for you to come home but all you did was come here and break up with me pretending that it was what was best between us." Santana didn't know what to say. Brittany was seriously hurt.

"Brittany, listen I'm sorry that I made you feel that way and I'm sorry that you're hurt." Santana started to explain, but Brittany got up from the chair and made her way towards the door of the Glee Club.

"In the words of Taylor Swift, Santana; 'You're Not Sorry'. If you were, you would have been there for me a long time ago." Brittany sighed and exited the choir room leaving Santana all alone. Maybe Brittany had a point. Santana hadn't been there for Brittany when she needed it. But she had to wonder what happened to the bubbly Brittany that she knew when they were in High School. In the end, Santana realized—Brittany wasn't the same girl that she was when they first met. Santana didn't realize it, but she changed Brittany and it was all her fault that there was tension between them. She had to think of a way to fix it. Maybe "Brittana" was over in Brittany's mind, but in Santana's mind she was going to do whatever it took to get the Brittany that she knew and loved back.


	6. Rachel & Finn: Not Over You

_**A/N: Here's the brand new chapter of the story! Hope you guys enjoy it! :)**  
_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Ryan Murphy and his brilliant mind does. Enjoy!**_

* * *

_Kurt's words made me think for a while. Was I really being a hypocrite by saying he should get back with Blaine when I was still on the rocks with Finn? I didn't know what to think anymore. Maybe I was being too hypocritical about this. Maybe I was trying to force Kurt to be with someone that he couldn't trust. Maybe I was the same way. I did spent countless hours, working in NYADA on my dancing for the big spring showcase coming up. But I figured I was working a little too hard because I needed a distraction from Finn. Everyone noticed that I wasn't myself, but what was I supposed to do? Let them know how I really felt? Finn was the most important person in my life—but with everything that's going on between us, maybe the person that is most important at this point—is me._

* * *

Rachel sat alone in her Brooklyn loft waiting for Kurt to get home from his internship with Vogue. Rachel heard that Kurt was trying to talk one of the guys into going to the bar with him but she was sure that Kurt was only doing it out of the fact that he hated to be alone. Rachel had been alone almost all her life. Having two gay dads in Lima, Ohio really prevented other girls from wanting to hang out with her. In the fifth grade, Rachel wanted to have a slumber party with some of the girls but when it came time for the slumber party, no one showed up. She had to have thought that her two dads were the reason, especially when the next day the queen bee of 5th grade was talking about Rachel behind her back—literally behind her back. She said that Rachel wasn't normal because she didn't have a mom. That was when Rachel knew that she was going to be a loner all the way to High School. Rachel didn't care what other people thought anymore. Instead, all she worried about was focusing her dreams on being on Broadway. Although, she had to admit that she missed Finn. She felt like she really needed Finn, but then again she was making herself sound needy by saying that she needed a man to be with her at all times. Rachel was snapped out of her thoughts when the phone rang. She turned to the phone to see once again, it was Finn calling. She was about to ignore it again, but-she had to think, maybe Finn just wanted to see how she was doing. Maybe Finn just wanted to talk as friends. She didn't have to say that she wanted to get back into a relationship with Finn. All she had to do was talk to him. Rachel picked up the phone, letting out a sigh.

"Hello?" Rachel sounded uncertain.

"_Rachel._" Finn sounded almost surprised that Rachel picked up the phone. "_Um, hey. How's it going?_"

"Everything's fine." Rachel nodded her head. "Everything's going fine. Um, how are you doing in Lima? I heard that you were working the Glee Club?"

"_Yeah, well until Mr. Schuester gets back from Washington. He's planning on making the arts included in more schools so he joined a panel." _Finn explained. Rachel nodded her head, continuing to think.

"That sounds really great Finn." Rachel sounded a bit excited.

"_Yeah, well I was just wondering what you were up to?"_ Finn sounded nonchalant. Rachel couldn't help but let out a small smile. _Same old Finn, _Rachel wondered.

"Well, I was just working on a dance routine for my class tomorrow." Rachel said. "Cassandra July wants me to perfect it before we move on to the Waltz. She is one tough teacher."

"_One tough teacher huh?" _Finn chuckled. "_Even tougher than Ms. Sylvester_?"

"Oh, especially tougher than Ms. Sylvester." Rachel almost sounded as if she missed Sue. "She's kind of like the Ms. Sylvester of New York, which is weird. I think she makes Ms. Sylvester look nice."

"_Nice?"_ Finn sounded amazed. "_Wow, I think that's almost a compliment_." Rachel and Finn shared a laugh before Rachel let out a smile.

"Um, so break is coming up. What do you plan on doing?" Rachel wondered.

"_Me, um I was actually going to go to New York to visit Kurt for the break."_ Finn said. "_But if you'd like, maybe we could hang out—as friends._" If Rachel wasn't a strong willed girl, she probably would have screamed 'Yes! Yes! Please come!' But Rachel was classier than that. Anyway, Finn was only going to come so that he could see Kurt, his stepbrother.

"That sounds really great." Rachel finally said after weighing it all in. "I'd like that."

"_Sounds awesome_." Finn sounded relaxed. "_Hey, I got to go. I still have to think of a song for Glee Club before the week is over_."

"All right." Rachel sighed, a little sad that the time that she and Finn were going to spend on the phone was ending. "Hey, if you do sing for the Glee Club, it has to be a rock song. I can't have you singing something that's out of your element."

"_A rock song, huh?"_ Finn pondered for a moment. "_I think I will take your advice, Rachel. Thanks._"

"You're welcome." Rachel said. She turned to hear the door click. "I have to go, Kurt's here."

"_All right." _Finn then wondered if he should say anything else, so he did. "_I miss you Rachel._" Rachel looked at the phone, wondering if she had heard Finn correctly. She then let out a smile.

"I miss you too, Finn. Bye." Rachel ended the phone call as Kurt entered the loft, looking rather excited. "Someone looks happy."

"Yeah, well." Kurt shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

"Guess what?" Rachel had a smile that illuminated the room. Kurt had to wonder what had her in such a good mood.

"What is it?" Kurt asked.

"Finn called, again." Rachel held up the phone with a smile. "And he's coming to New York to visit next week."

"Wait, you _spoke_ to Finn?" Kurt walked over to Rachel, feeling shocked.

"Yeah, and we had a nice conversation." Rachel put her hand through her hair. "I miss him."

"You miss Finn?" Kurt asked. "But, you can't miss Finn."

"But I can." Rachel was wondering why she wasn't allowed to miss him. "I mean, I had a great time talking with him and all. We're going to hang out as friends."

"Friends usually means something more." Kurt tried to talk sense into his friend. "Rachel, I need you to think about this for a moment."

"But I did think about it." Rachel got up from the floor to head to the bedroom. "I'm going to hang out with Finn, but nothing is going to happen between us. I can promise that." Rachel pointed to the telephone that was on the wall, giving Kurt a look. "Now that I spoke to Finn, you need to call Blaine."

"What? Why do I have to call Blaine?" Kurt wondered.

"Because you promised." Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "You promised you were going to speak with Blaine if I spoke with Finn. I spoke to Finn, so now you have to speak with Blaine. He misses you."

"But I don't miss him." Kurt sounded a bit serious. "He cheated and it was wrong."

"What do you mean you don't miss him?" Rachel wondered.

"Just that, Rachel." Kurt snapped. Rachel looked taken aback at Kurt's remark before Kurt softened his face. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just, you know the guy at Vogue that works with me, Taylor?"

"Yeah, what about him?" Rachel asked.

"Well, he asked me to get lunch with him for lunch today and—we did. And I liked it. I hadn't felt this way about someone since Blaine." Kurt admitted.

"So you think you like this Taylor guy?" Rachel wondered.

"Think?" Kurt chuckled before becoming serious again. "I _know_." Kurt went to the kitchen to get started on dinner. "So what do you want for dinner? We can order Chinese food again." That was Kurt's way of saying that the conversation about Blaine was over, and that was just enough for Rachel.

"Yeah, Chinese food sounds good." Rachel nodded her head before heading back into her room.

* * *

It was the last day before break and Mr. Schuester was surprised with all the gifts the students showered him with. There were gifts of music books, good luck charms and even a miniature version of the Nationals trophy that they won the year before. Sugar Motta was also nice enough to give Will a $100 dollar gift card to Breadstix. It was expired…but it was the thought that count.

"All right guys." Mr. Schuester put the gifts down before staring at his crew. "I know how hard this has been for you guys. And I am going to say that while I am in Washington, I am going to miss each and every one of you. But it's good to know that the Glee Club is in good hands, which is why I feel it's safe to leave it with none other than Finn Hudson." Finn let out a proud smile as the other Glee members gave Finn a pat on the back. "Now, before we go on break, I was told that Finn had a song he'd like to sing and since Glee Club is a family, I figured why not." Finn quickly got up from his seat, watching the other Glee members stare at him.

"Thanks." Finn nodded his head. "Um, the other day I was thankful enough to talk to Rachel and I'm going to visit her and Kurt in New York next week. I chose this song because Rachel said that if I was going to sing anything, then it had to be something that had to do with rock. So I hope you guys enjoy it." Finn nodded his head towards the pianist as he sang an acoustic rendition of one of his favorite songs. Little did he know, Rachel was singing the same song in her music class, thinking of none other than Finn.

_(Finn)_  
_Dreams, that's where I have to go  
To see your beautiful face anymore  
I stare at a picture of you and listen to the radio  
Hope, hope there's a conversation  
We both admit we had it good  
But until then it's alienation, I know  
That much is understood  
And I realize_

_(Rachel & Finn)  
If you ask me, how I'm doing  
I would say I'm doing just fine  
I would lie and say that you're not on my mind  
But I go out and I sit down at a table set for two  
And finally I'm forced to say the truth  
No matter what I say, I'm not over you, not over you_

_(Rachel)  
And if I had the chance to renew_

_(Finn)  
You know there isn't a thing I wouldn't do_

_(Rachel & Finn)  
I could get back on the right track  
But only if you'd be convinced  
So until then_

_If you ask me, how I'm doing  
I would say I'm doing just fine  
I would lie and say that you're not on my mind  
But I go out and I sit down at a table set for two  
And finally I'm forced to say the truth  
No matter what I say, I'm not over you  
Not over you  
Not over you  
Not over you_

As soon as Finn finished his rendition of the song, everyone stood up and gave Finn a standing ovation. This was one of the main reasons that he missed the Glee Club. They were all so understanding and no matter what, they were always going to be there for Finn. Everything in his life felt like it was beginning to fall into place, but right now, he needed one last thing to make it all worthwhile. He needed the one and only lovely Rachel Berry by his side.


	7. Finchel & Klaine: Blank Page

_**A/N: Here's the brand new chapter! Hope you guys enjoy!**  
_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I do love the show! For those in the USA, a brand new Glee is tonight, so make sure you watch! :)**_

* * *

_I'm really excited to see Kurt and everything, but I feel like the reason that I'm doing this is because of Rachel. She sounded really excited to have me in New York in our conversation on the phone a couple of days ago. I just want Rachel to fall in love with me all over again, it's pretty much the main reason I'm doing this. And with Blaine tagging alone to talk to Kurt, I just feel like this is going to be the best week of our lives. I just hope that it starts off that way…_

* * *

Finn and Blaine walked along the Brooklyn streets trying to find Rachel and Kurt's loft in hopes of reconciliation. In Blaine's mind, if Kurt wasn't going to answer his phone calls then the next best thing was to visit him and force Kurt to talk to him face to face. Finn had a whole week planned out for him and Rachel. Since she had no class that week due to the break, Finn was going to convince Rachel to go to Broadway plays, get lunch at fancy restaurants', walks in Central Park and in the end; Rachel Berry will be the leading woman in Finn's life. Finn looked down at the paper and back at one of the buildings and noticed the address. It was Rachel and Kurt's apartment. Finn and Blaine entered the lobby to head to Rachel and Kurt's apartment. Commence operation: Get Rachel and Kurt back into their arms again.

Rachel was busy doing morning yoga while Kurt had run out to his internship at Vogue. Even though almost everyone had the week off, Vogue had been one company that never stopped running. Rachel was in the midst of stretching out when she heard a knock on the door. She turned to the door, an eyebrow arched before getting out of her position to see whom the visitor was. Rachel opened the door to find Finn and Blaine standing at the door, Finn holding a bouquet of roses. Rachel became excited to see Finn and Blaine and engulfed them into a hug. She wasn't expecting Finn until tonight, but she had no idea what Blaine was doing here.

"I'm so glad to see you guys." Rachel continued to keep her arms wrapped around Finn, still surprised that he was still here. "I was expecting Finn, but I wasn't expecting Blaine. It's such a surprise."

"Well, I wanted to surprise Kurt." Blaine nodded his head, releasing a smile.

"Really? Well, he went to work earlier this morning and it's just me in the loft all day long." Rachel explained before shaking her head. "But, if you want then you can come in."

"Thanks that will be great." Finn smiled before motioning the flowers towards Rachel. "I got you these since I thought you wanted to make the apartment more—festive."

"Thank you Finn." Rachel took the flowers, giving Finn a small smile. "I'm going to go and get some water for these flowers. I'll be right back." Rachel rushed out of the room with a smile while Finn and Blaine looked around. The loft hadn't changed much since the last time Finn and Blaine were here, which was probably a good thing Finn handed Rachel the flowers. Finn walked over to the television set, grabbing the DVD that was on the top of the television. _Breakfast at Tiffany's_, Rachel and Kurt's go to movie when they were feeling either depressed or stressed. Finn knew too well about this since Rachel made Finn watch it with her when she was depressed about having her 'time of the month'. Rachel returned from the kitchen with a grin. "Well, since I didn't make breakfast and you guys are hungry, why don't we go and get something to eat?"

"Sounds like a good idea." Finn said, putting the DVD back on the T.V.

"Yeah, and then I can see Kurt later." Blaine added. Rachel and Finn turned to each other before looking back at Blaine.

"Um, yeah." Rachel quickly said as if she was trying to avoid a subject. She headed to grab her keys to the house, but Finn knew too well that when Rachel did that, it was because she had something she was hiding.

"Let's go eat." Blaine headed out the door while Finn hung back to talk to Rachel. Rachel eyed Finn seeing that he was concerned.

"Is something going on with Kurt at work?" Finn asked.

"No? Psht, what made you think that?" Rachel tried her best to convince Finn nothing was the matter. Rachel was a bad liar—a _really_ bad one. So when Finn raised his eyebrow at her she came clean. "Kurt said he had been seeing some guy named Taylor at his job in Vogue. I just don't want Blaine to get hurt if he sees Taylor."

"He was worried about that back at school. We were talking about that." Finn sounded just as worried as Rachel did.

"So what are we going to do?" Rachel wondered.

"_We_?" Finn asked.

"Yes, _we_." Rachel said. "I'll need your help with this."

"Cool, you have my help." Finn agreed. Rachel smiled at Finn, planting a small kiss on his cheek before leaving the apartment. Finn turned around, his hand where Rachel kissed him. _I think I seriously have a chance, _Finn thought to himself. Finn walked out of the room, following Rachel with trying to keep Blaine occupied while trying to tell him that Kurt was seeing someone else.

* * *

After a whole day of playing cat and mouse with Blaine about where Kurt was, Rachel and Finn entered the loft exhausted while Blaine followed in. Little did Rachel, Finn and Blaine know, Kurt was in the kitchen coming out with a soufflé in his hands. Kurt gave Rachel a smile but became shocked when he saw Finn and—of course, Blaine in the living room of their loft. Kurt turned back to Rachel who gave him a sheepish grin.

"Surprise." Rachel awkwardly said. "Look whose here. It's Finn and….Blaine." Kurt stared at Blaine for a few moments before turning towards Finn.

"Rachel?" Kurt asked, gripping the soufflé tin. "Can I speak with you in the kitchen?" Rachel turned back around towards Finn and Blaine and then to Kurt.

"Why can't we just talk here?" Rachel nervously giggled.

"Rachel." Kurt sternly said.

"All right, all right." Rachel quickly followed Kurt to the kitchen leaving Finn and Blaine in the living room alone—again.

"What is Blaine doing? In our living room? Did you have something to do with this?!" Kurt sounded as if he was panicking.

"I didn't know that Blaine was coming." Rachel explained. "You told me Finn was coming, you didn't say anything about Blaine."

"So you think I invited Blaine here? Even after how much I said that I wasn't going to talk to him?" Kurt sounded antsy.

"Why are you panicking? And since when do you make a soufflé?" Rachel pointed to the container in her hand.

"Taylor is coming over for dinner. Sorry, I probably should have told you that first." Kurt sounded apologetic.

"But we can't get rid of Blaine, Kurt." Rachel sighed. "I know you don't want him here but it's late and he can't just kick him into the street." Kurt realized that as much as he hated it, Rachel had a valid point.

"So what are we going to do?" Kurt wondered. "Taylor will be here in an hour."

"Well, we'll have to give Blaine the extra guest room with Finn." Rachel thoughtfully said.

"And for the next two hours?" Kurt began to panic again.

"All right, I'll take care of it." Rachel sighed. "Maybe I'll take Finn and Blaine out somewhere, I don't know."

"You'd be willing to hang out with both our ex-boyfriends?" Kurt questioned before giving Rachel a relieved smile. "Rachel Berry you are a trooper."

"A trooper that you're going to owe for this." Rachel turned back to the living room before giving Kurt a sympathetic look. "The least you could do is explain to Blaine that you could possibly have a new boyfriend by the end of the night." Kurt thought about Rachel's words for a moment, thinking if she was possibly right. Kurt knew that Rachel had so many valid points in that conversation that it made him feel like he would be a bad friend to not take Rachel's advice. Finally, Kurt entered the living room staring at Blaine and motioning him towards the door.

"Um, me?" Blaine pointed to himself.

"No, the imaginary guy next to you." Kurt sarcastically said. Blaine understood that Kurt was still hurting from the scandal, so he did his best to follow along with what Kurt was asking without making Kurt regret even acknowledging him. Kurt and Blaine headed down to the nearby park that was in the loft to sit down and talk. Kurt didn't know if this was a good idea, but he at least had to tell Blaine what was really going on. Blaine and Kurt sat there for 10 minutes, not saying anything but listening to the wind and the drug dealers on the other side of the park make deals. "Why did you come?" Kurt finally said. Blaine turned his head to Kurt, wondering if he should answer.

"Um, I came because I wanted to surprise you." Blaine sighed.

"You wanted to surprise me?" Kurt's tone sounded cold. "What made you think that I actually wanted to see you?"

"Look, I know that you have been ignoring my phone calls, and my texts." Blaine turned to Kurt. "And I know that you're hurting but it's not fair what you're doing to me."

"And you think it was fair of what you did to me?!" Kurt answered back, louder than what Blaine intended. "You cheated on me Blaine! And you're making me sound like I'm the one that needs to apologize."

"I'm trying to tell you I'm sorry but you're not giving me a chance to!" Blaine retorted. "You keep ignoring me. How am I supposed to tell you that what I did was stupid and was the biggest thing that I regret if you don't give me a chance?" Blaine got up from the bench, feeling tears in his eyes.

"Blaine." Kurt's voice softened a bit as Blaine turned around. "You shouldn't have gotten on than plane. You shouldn't have come here. You should have stayed in Lima where you should be enjoying your break. I'm off doing bigger and better things."

"Oh and what are you doing that's just oh so great?!" Blaine sounded offended and hurt. "What are you doing that's so much better than me?" Kurt pursed his lips, not wanting to say anything to him. "And there you go, ignoring me again. All I'm trying to tell you is that I'm sorry. And if you don't want to listen then you're right. Maybe I shouldn't have come here. But before I do go back to my _loser_ life in Ohio, I wanted to give you this." Blaine took out a tape recording and threw it to Kurt, who automatically caught it. "I recorded it on the plane. Do you know why? Because I love you Kurt, and I'm sorry for ever hurting you. But right now, do you think what you're doing is any better than what I did to you?" Blaine started heading off into the night, opposite of the loft while Kurt stood there dumbfounded. Had Kurt been really that cold towards Blaine? Kurt looked down at the recording tape, and then heard his phone ring. When Kurt picked up the phone, he saw a text from Taylor, saying that he couldn't make dinner with Kurt tonight.

"What else can go wrong?" Kurt got up to head back to the loft by himself. When he entered the loft, he noticed Rachel and Finn eating a bit of the soufflé that Kurt had made. Kurt saw Rachel and Finn make guilty faces.

"Sorry dude, but you were taking forever." Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"By the way, this is the best soufflé that I've had." Rachel took a bite of the soufflé.

"Well, I'm glad you like it." Kurt sounded glum. Rachel and Finn looked around them to notice that Blaine was nowhere in sight.

"Hey, where's Blaine?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, where did Blaine go, Kurt?" Finn wondered.

"Well, he…I don't know where he went." Kurt softly said. "I'm just going to go to bed. You two enjoy the rest of the soufflé."

"What happened to Taylor?" Rachel questioned.

"He had other plans." Kurt quickly said. He went into the room and shut the door while Rachel and Finn looked worried. They had never seen Kurt so depressed in their entire lives. They reluctantly went back to eating the soufflé, not sure if they would be able to enjoy it as much knowing that Kurt and Blaine were still depressed.

* * *

Inside Kurt's room, he looked at the tape recorder that Blaine handed to him and placed it in the radio, to see what Blaine had said—or sung. Kurt let out a small smile, thinking that Blaine would always sing his feelings no matter what. Maybe it was one of those singing recordings that Blaine used to send him. He heard Blaine talking in the recording, and paused to hear his words.

"_Hi Kurt…I know that you probably don't want to talk to me right now but I recorded this for you. I'm sorry Kurt and this song will show you how sorry I am…so please listen."_

_I know there's hurt, I know there's pain  
But people change, Lord knows I'm no saint  
In my own way, regret choices I've made  
How do I say I'm sorry?  
How do I say I'm sorry?_

_I was scared, I was unprepared  
Oh for the things you said  
If I could undo that I hurt you  
I would do anything for us to make it through_

_Draw me a smile and save me tonight  
I am a blank page waiting for you to bring me to life  
Paint me a heart, let me be your art  
I am a blank page waiting for life to start_

_Let our hearts stop and beat as one together  
Let our hearts stop and beat as one forever_

_I'd go back in time and I'll realize  
Our spirits aligned and we'd never die_

_Draw me a smile and save me tonight  
I am a blank page waiting for you to bring me to life  
Paint me a heart, let me be your art  
I am a blank page waiting for life to start_

_Let our hearts stop and beat as one together  
Let our hearts stop and beat as one forever_

Kurt listened to the song and didn't anticipate tears streaming down his cheeks. After being mad at Blaine all this time, he didn't realize that deep down inside, he truly, truly, missed Blaine and he would possibly do anything to get him back.


	8. Brittana and Finchel: Safe And Sound

_**A/N: Here is the brand new chapter...with a slight plot twist. Hope you enjoy!**  
_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did. :)**_

* * *

_With a week off from college, I was planning to stay in Lima, Ohio in order to try to get Brittany to understand that I was really into getting her back. I also wanted to put Kitty into her place since she trashed almost everything that was in Brittany's locker. Who did Kitty think she was? Did she think she was bad? She hadn't seen anything yet. She didn't know who she was messing with. She was messing with Santana Lopez, from Lima Adjacent. Do you know what we do in Lima Adjacent when someone treats one of our own bad? We get revenge, and we don't do it to get even. We do it to send a message. And here's a message for you Kitty the Hut, don't mess with our own—or you'll be sorry._

* * *

Santana sat at local Coffee shop _Lima Bean_ waiting for Brittany, hoping that she got her text. She needed to talk to Brittany face to face, without the choir room as a distraction. Santana needed to convince Brittany how much she loved her, how much she was willing to get back with her. Brittany entered the coffee shop, automatically spotting Santana and slowly walking to her. Brittany sat across from Santana, her hair out of her ponytail and wearing an 'I 3 Grandma' shirt. Santana raised her eyebrow, concerned about Brittany's getup.

"Brittany? What are you wearing?" Santana asked.

"Kitty took my cheerleading uniform from my locker when I went to go shower so all they had in the lost and found was the grandma shirt." Brittany explained.

"She stole your team uniform?" Santana's anger was beginning to get the best of her.

"Yeah, also she said she was Lady Gaga and she was going to 'poke my face'. Whatever that means." Brittany shrugged her shoulders.

"That's it, Brittany you can't let Kitty get away with this." Santana explained. "And if you don't do something about it, then Auntie Snixx is going to get nasty and going to have to go all Lima Heights on her."

"You can't do that." Brittany shook her head.

"And why not?" Santana asked.

"Because she pretty much gets what she wants." Brittany said. "If you complain to Coach Sylvester about her then Coach Sue will just say that Kitty is showing tough love. I think tough love isn't love at all."

"Of course it's not love at all." Santana sighed. "If it was love then Kitty wouldn't be doing all these horrible things to you."

"But there's no way that Sue is going to get rid of Kitty." Brittany looked down at her shirt and back at Santana.

"Leave Kitty to me." Santana got up from the table, heading to the line. "I'm going to take care of her."

"Just like you 'took care of them' last time?" Brittany sounded bitter. Santana knew what Brittany was talking about. All of Brittany's personal belongings were ruined because of Santana confronting Kitty, which made Santana feel guilty.

"I know I messed up last time, and I'm sorry." Santana apologized once again. "But this time, Kitty is going to regret ever messing with you."

"And what do you plan on doing to her?" Brittany questioned, suddenly becoming interested.

"Let Auntie Snixx handle that, all right? She has a devilish idea on how to beat Kitty." Santana assured Brittany as she went to the line to get their drinks. Brittany wasn't sure if it was a good idea to try to take down Kitty on their own—then again, Brittany wasn't sure of a lot of things. She wasn't sure if Lord Tubbington had a drug problem and she also wasn't sure if today was Monhursday, a special holiday that she made up that happens 3 times a week. She just hoped that Santana was going to help—and not make things worse than they already were.

* * *

Rachel awoke the next morning in her loft, making sure that she was possibly dreaming. The night before Blaine and Finn came to New York, Blaine was nowhere to be seen and Finn was here for the whole week. Rachel didn't have class but Kurt had to go to work which meant she and Finn were alone all day long. Rachel was planning on spending the day, trying to study her dance moves for class next week while Finn would keep himself occupied with the television. At least—that was the initial plan.

"All right, I'm heading to work." Kurt yelled out a yell as he grabbed his keys from the key rack.

"All right." Rachel smiled. Kurt's face looked tired and worn down, almost if he hadn't slept all night. Rachel's smile quickly diminished, looking at Kurt with a concerned face. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"No, I didn't sleep." Kurt admitted. "I just kept thinking of what I said to Blaine last night. Every word I said made it feel like he wasn't important."

"Oh god, what did you say to him?" Rachel wondered.

"I said that he shouldn't have come, I was doing bigger and better things." Kurt felt his voice breaking. "I said that he should have stayed in his little town in Lima, Ohio."

"Kurt, maybe you were a little bit too harsh." Rachel tried to reason with him. "Besides, Lima is where _we _grew up. It's where we became dreamers and where we plotted on how we were going to follow our dreams. Telling Blaine that Lima wasn't important was kind of rude."

"And you think I don't know that." Kurt felt tears streaming down his face. "And then before he left, he handed me a tape…and he wanted me to hear it. It was him singing and it was beautiful. Rachel…I miss him so much." Kurt hung onto Rachel as he started sobbing, Rachel rubbing his back in comfort. Little did Rachel and Kurt know, Finn was standing by the living room watching the scene.

"I know you miss him." Rachel sighed. "Just go to work and I'll try to get in touch with Blaine to get him to come back. Then you can start to patch this all up and soon you'll have Blaine back."

"Yeah…" Kurt wiped the tears off his face, turning towards the door. "I made dinner earlier this morning…just heat it up." With that, Kurt exited the room closing the door behind him. Rachel stood there in a daze, not sure what to do. She knew that she had to try to call Blaine in order to patch everything up.

"So, is everything okay with Kurt?" Finn wondered. Rachel turned around, not knowing that Finn was behind her.

"Yeah, I just…I just have to call Blaine and see if he'll be willing to come back." Rachel walked over to the phone. She dialed the numbers and pressed the phone to her ear waiting for someone to pick up. Rachel tapped her feet, looking dejected when she heard Blaine's phone go straight for voicemail. "Voicemail." Rachel put the phone away.

"He's not answering?" Finn asked. "That's odd."

"Yeah, it is. I better try and call back." Rachel sounded determined once again. Finn went over to the living room to turn on the T.V while Rachel was trying to get in contact with Blaine again. Rachel tapped her foot, trying to get to Blaine but once again—it went to voicemail. Rachel decided this time to leave a voicemail. "Hey Blaine, it's Rachel. Look, Kurt and I are really worried about you so when you get this message then please call back. Bye." Rachel hung up but when Finn ran towards her with shock on his face, Rachel knew that something was wrong.

"Rachel, you have to come see this!" Finn shouted. Finn led Rachel towards the television to look at the scene. Rachel noticed that there was Blaine—and a mug shot!

"What the hell happened?" Rachel sounded surprised.

"I don't know, but I think Blaine was arrested for something?" Finn tried answer.

"What was he arrested for?!" Rachel grabbed the remote to rewind the news report.

"From what I got from the news report it was for public intoxication and underage drinking." Finn responded. "I also think that he was resisting arrest and assaulting an officer."

"We better call Kurt." Rachel ran over to grab the phone to dial Kurt at Vogue. Kurt wasn't going to like the fact that Blaine was in jail. Not one bit.

* * *

"What do you _mean_ that Blaine is in jail?!" Kurt shouted. Rachel and Finn were in Kurt's office after Kurt told them to come downtown following Rachel's conversation with Kurt on the phone.

"I guess he was really hurt so he decided to…you know…have a drink?" Rachel tried to take a guess.

"I can't believe this." Kurt paced back and forth in his office. "What am I going to do? I don't have the money in order to bail out Blaine." An idea formed in Rachel and Finn's mind.

"Maybe _we _don't have the money…" Rachel started to explain.

"But we know someone who _does_." Finn finished the sentence.

"Who?" Kurt asked. Finn ran over to the phones, dialing a number. Finally after a minute a smile flashed on Finn's face.

"Santana. Is that you?" Finn spoke casually. "Do you still have your mom's money that she gave you for New York? Well we need you to come to New York with the money so we can bail Blaine's out of jail. I promise I will pay you back all the money. All right, sounds great. All right. Bye." Finn hung up the phone turning to Rachel and Kurt. "Santana is coming to New York with the money her mom gave her at graduation to bail Blaine out of jail. But—we have to pay her back…mostly me."

"What do you think is going to happen to Blaine?" Rachel asked.

"What will Mr. Schuester say about it?" Kurt finally wondered.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Finn assured both Rachel and Kurt. "As for what will happen to Blaine, don't worry. We'll do all we can to make sure that we're going to get him out." Rachel felt relaxed by Finn's words, slowly calming down.

"Why would Blaine do such a thing?" Kurt sat down, running his hands through his hair.

"He's hurt…and when you're hurt about something then you're not thinking clearly and your actions tend to be rebellious." Rachel tried to soothe Kurt.

"Yeah, my mom told me when my dad died; she punched a hole in the wall. Kind of wish I was old enough to remember that one." Finn pondered over the last part.

"Focus." Rachel snapped her fingers in front of Finn's face. "How fast can Santana get here?"

"She won't be here for another four hours." Finn sighed. "She's leaving now."

"All right then…so all we do is sit and wait?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah, all we do is sit and wait." Finn didn't know how to answer Rachel.

"Or we could go to the precinct where they're holding Blaine and try to figure out what was wrong with him." Kurt suggested.

"If you want to, then that sounds like a plan." Rachel sat down, folding her arms. "But I just don't want you to kill him."

"And I won't…but I am very disappointed in him." Kurt left the Vogue office with Rachel and Finn watching. They were hoping that Kurt wasn't going to do something that he was going to regret.

"I just hope that Santana can get here soon." Rachel turned to Finn. Finn wrapped a comforting arm around Rachel's shoulders, letting her know that everything was going to be all right. Rachel felt, almost safe in Finn's arms making her wish that could get back together with him. Her brain was saying to kiss Finn…but her heart was telling her something else. In that moment, Rachel felt safe and sound…and she hoped the feeling would never go away…

_[Rachel]  
I remember tears streaming down your face  
When I said I'd never let you go  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember you said, don't leave me here alone  
When all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

_[Rachel and Brittany]  
Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be all right  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I will be safe and sound_

_[Santana]  
Don't you dare look out your window  
Darling everything's on fire  
The war outside our door keeps raging on_

_[Santana and Kurt]  
Hold on to this lullaby  
Even when the music's gone  
Gone_

_[Rachel, Kurt, Santana and Brittany]  
Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be all right  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I will be safe and sound_

_[Rachel, Finn, Santana, Brittany, Kurt and Blaine]  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh,  
Ooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
La, La (La, La)  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
La, La (La, La)_

_[Rachel]  
Just close your eyes  
[Santana]  
You'll be all right_

_[Rachel and Finn]  
Come morning light_

_[Santana and Brittany]  
You and I will be _

_[Rachel, Finn, Santana, Brittany, Kurt and Blaine]  
Safe and sound_


	9. Finn and Blaine: She Will Be Loved

_**A/N: Here's the new chapter of my story guys! Enjoy! **  
_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the song in this chapter.**_

* * *

_How could I have been so stupid! After I had left Kurt in the park, I ran off and found myself at a bar even though I was underage. The woman that worked there believed that I was old enough to drink. One drink led to about five more, which then led to me being drunk. I remembered stumbling out of the bar, then there were some cops, I threw a beer bottle and then in the end, I was in lockup. I was arrested in New York and I heard the bail was set for $5,000. There was no way that I was going to come up with the money without my parents knowing. It was going to reach Lima and I'm going to get so busted. Sitting alone in a jail cell to sober up really allows you to clear your mind. I learned that maybe I went the wrong way to try to get Kurt to fall back in love with me. I guess I'm lucky that Kurt isn't like those writer that write song about their exes after they do something stupid or hurtful—like Taylor Swift or something. After sitting around for two hours in jail, I knew I had to get out of here. I didn't know how, but I had to get out of here._

* * *

Blaine sat up in the small room that had boxed him in. He was stuck in a jail cell after drinking (even though he wasn't supposed to) and he was sure he threw something at the arresting officer. Blaine was never going to hear the end of this one. If anyone from school found out, then he would be the laughing stock of William McKinley High. As a matter of fact, he would be the laughing stock of Lima, Ohio. A face that he was possibly expecting to see was his parents making the trip to New York to bail out their son. What Blaine didn't expect to see was Kurt walking to one of the cells, being led by a police officer and pointing in the cell. Blaine was sure that Kurt was pointing at him. Wait, but what was Kurt doing there? Shouldn't Kurt be at work trying to come up with some fabulous ideas? The cell door opened and the officer leaned on it with a smirk.

"Blaine Anderson?" The officer wondered. "Um, your boyfriend is here to bail you out." Blaine turned to Kurt who gave Blaine a look to just go with the plan.

"Right, my boyfriend. Sure." Blaine quickly started heading towards the door but the officer handed Blaine a piece of paper.

"This is for you." The officer said. "It's a court order. If you don't' show up then there will be a warrant for your arrest."

"Sure, I will show up. Thank you." Blaine said. Blaine and Kurt exited the precinct together, Blaine making sure that he wasn't looking back. As they exited outside, Blaine was unsure what was going on here. At first Kurt was planning on disowning Blaine for the rest of their lives and now he was bailing him out of jail. What was going on? "Um, thanks for bailing me out of jail."

"Why did you end up in jail?!" Kurt turned around and started yelling. Blaine knew that Kurt wasn't too happy with him. Heck, _he _wasn't happy with himself right now. Blaine looked to the ground, not sure of the words to say.

"Because I was hurting, and I know it wasn't a good excuse but it's true." Blaine tried to explain.

"Gee, you're right. It was a terrible excuse." Kurt huffed.

"There you go again, trying to make me look like the bad guy." Blaine mumbled loud enough for Kurt to hear.

"Maybe because right now, you are the bad guy." Kurt retorted. "You came over here after knowing that you cheated, you ended up in jail and you needed to get bailed out. By the way, you owe Finn who owes Santana $5,000."

"Wait, Santana is in New York?" Blaine stopped looking horrified. "She's never going to let me hear this down."

"Well, she wouldn't be here if you didn't get yourself in trouble." Kurt sounded bitter. "Which seems to be all that you're doing lately."

"Well now I'm stuck in New York until my court date which is next week or something." Blaine looked around to see that there weren't many options for him at this point.

"Well what are you trying to tell me?" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Do you think that I can stay in your loft just until next week?" Blaine asked. Kurt had enough of this.

"Why do all of your problems seem to fall on my shoulders?!" Kurt screamed.

"They don't fall on your shoulders, Kurt!" Blaine yelled back. Kurt and Blaine realized that there were families watching them argue in the middle of the street—in public. Kurt let out a sigh before nodding his head towards Blaine.

"You can sleep on the couch, but don't expect there to be much conversation from me to you." Kurt's tone of voice sounded cold.

"Thank you." Blaine softly replied. Kurt turned his head, going towards the loft while Blaine slowly followed behind. This was going to be a long week for the both of them. They knew it.

* * *

Finn closed the door to Rachel and Kurt's loft before letting out a sigh. Santana had lent them the money in order to get Blaine out of jail and after practically threatening Finn in the 10,000 ways that she would make his life a living hell, she lent him the money and flew back to Lima. Apparently, she had her own problems that she had to deal with—problem number one was named Brittany. Finn sat on the sofa while Rachel skimmed through the T.V channels, trying to find something for them to watch.

"I don't get why Santana didn't just PayPal you the money." Rachel turned to Finn. "She spent more money coming here to New York than just sending you the money electronically."

"She could have done that." Finn shrugged his shoulders while looking at Rachel. "But then again, she couldn't tell me the 10,000 ways she'll make my life hell on PayPal, so that was probably worth her trip."

"I wonder how Kurt and Blaine are doing." Rachel softly spoke, her mind no longer on the T.V. "I mean, they are just consumed with so much hatred right now that it's not even funny."

"I can't believe that they let their argument get so out of hand." Finn agreed. Rachel kept the television on some sports channel while she got up to head to the kitchen.

"Do you want something to eat? I can make something." Rachel suggested.

"So you learned how to cook?" Finn raised an eyebrow amused.

"Yep, but the only thing I know how to cook is eggs so you have to bear with me here." Rachel let out a smile before turning to the stove to get the pot ready.

"Well then, I certainly don't mind some eggs." Finn playfully said. His tone then got serious as he turned to Rachel, seeing her cook for the first time—ever. He got up from the sofa to walk over to her, hopefully to say something that could make her possibly consider getting back together with him. "You don't think that we're going to end up like Blaine and Kurt, do you?"

"No, what makes you think that?" Rachel raised an eyebrow at Finn.

"I don't want to live in a world where the person that you love the most becomes a total stranger, and that's what's happening to Blaine and Kurt." Finn looked into Rachel's eyes, not caring about the food at the moment. "I want to live in a world where you can love that person every single day and not have to worry about them straying from you." Rachel turned off the fire for the food and continued to stare at Finn, trying to see what his angle was.

"So what's your point?" Rachel questioned.

"My point is that I lost you and I don't want to lose you again. After seeing what's going on between Blaine and Kurt, it made me realize that I need you Rachel, and I don't want to just let go of what we had because we got into a stupid fight. Was I wrong for not visiting you for four months? Yes. And I am owning up to my mistake. I don't want to be in a world where we end up hating each other because you are the most important person in my life." Finn felt his voice breaking as he continued to stare at the woman he loved. "And if I have to go another day of being without you, it's going to drive me crazy inside." Rachel continued to look at Finn, and after seeing that he was serious about every word that he said, she put the spatula down and put a hand on his shoulder.

"When you left me to go on that train to New York, giving me my space I knew that you were giving me freedom and that you were embarrassed and scared of what I would say when I found out that you were discharged from the army." Rachel softly said. "And thinking about you every day after our breakup made me realize that maybe I don't want to live a day without you either. You are the most important person in my whole life and you make me feel so alive. When you came here to spend the week with Kurt, I figured maybe we could still be friends. But I realized that we can't _just_ be friends, no matter how many times you come around here and want to be. I'm always going to love you Finn, and it may have taken me to the point where Blaine was arrested where I realized that we were still meant to be." Rachel moved her hand from Finn's shoulder to his cheek, not sure what they should do next. Finn had a feeling that he knew what move he wanted to make on Rachel. Finn placed his forehead on Rachel's giving her a sweet tender kiss. Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn, missing the warmth of his body close to hers. Rachel and Finn were lost in their own little world, and their own little world led them to Rachel's bedroom where they reconnected after the four months that they spent apart.

* * *

Rachel lay sound asleep with Finn cuddling close to her after spending the afternoon together, in which Finn wanted to pinch himself to make sure that it wasn't a dream. He had to make sure that what happened with Rachel was just as real as when he first got together with Rachel, the feelings that they both felt. He knew he loved her and he wanted to spend the rest of her life with her. Watching Rachel sleep peacefully made Finn think of his promise that he vowed to keep. That he would love Rachel no matter what and that no matter what came in their way, Finn would still be there for her. Finn remembered one of the songs that he and Rachel listened to when they were in Finn's bedroom in Lima during their Senior Year. They were looking through Finn's songs on iTunes when they stumbled across a Maroon 5 song. Finn made a vow that Rachel would still be loved, now and forever by him. He let Rachel go once, and he wasn't going to let her go again—no matter what.

_[Finn]  
Beauty queen of only 18  
She had some trouble with herself  
He was always there to help but she  
She belonged to someone else_

_I drove for miles and miles  
And wound up at your door  
I had you so many times but somehow  
I want more_

_I don't mind spending everyday  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain  
Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Ask her if she want to stay awhile  
And she will be loved  
And she will be loved  
And she will be loved  
And she will be loved_

_[Blaine]  
I know where you hide  
Alone in your car  
Know all of the things that make you who you are_

_[Finn]  
I know that goodbye  
Means nothing at all  
Comes back and begs me catch her every time she falls_

_[Blaine]  
Tap on my window  
Knock on my door I  
Want to make you feel beautiful_

_[Finn and Blaine]  
I don't mind spending everyday  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain  
Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Ask her if she want to stay a while  
And she will be loved  
And she will beloved_

_[Finn] (Blaine)  
And she will be loved  
(Please don't try so hard)  
And she will be loved  
(To say goodbye}  
And she will be loved  
(Please don't try so hard)  
And she will be loved  
(To say goodbye)_

_[Finn and Blaine]  
Please don't try so hard  
To say goodbye_


	10. Santana & Brittany: Pumped Up Kicks

_**A/N: Here's a brand new chapter! Hope you guys enjoy!**  
_

_**Disclaimer: Didn't own Glee yesterday, still don't own it today**_

* * *

_Ever since Finn came through that door to start the week vacation he had with Kurt, I was just planning to stay friends with him. I wasn't expecting that we'd talk until three in the morning about what we missed about each other, missing our little quirks, missing his smile, missing his laugh, missing him. I had a feeling this time it was going to work with Finn and me, now if only Kurt and Blaine were just as open to reconciliation, then everything was going to be all right. But just because Finn and I ended up back together, it doesn't mean that there won't be bumps in the road on our way back to pure bliss._

* * *

At around seven in the morning, Rachel's nose crinkled at the smell of—something in the kitchen. Her eyes opened up quickly, confused as to who was making breakfast. She turned to the other side of her bed to find it empty. Finn was gone. Rachel grabbed her robe, placed it on and headed towards the kitchen to find none other than Finn making breakfast. Rachel raised an eyebrow, looking at the pancakes, the waffles, even the eggs and bacon that looked like a smiling face. Rachel walked over to Finn, amazed. Finn turned to her still holding the spatula with a smile.

"Good morning." Finn smiled, flipping the spatula like it was a baton.

"Good morning." Rachel nodded her head, turning back to the breakfast that was on the table. "At what time did you wake up?"

"I woke up at around five. Couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to make breakfast." Finn walked over to the table to place forks in both of the plates. He sat down on one end of the table, motioning for Rachel to sit on the other side.

"I didn't know that you could cook." Rachel sounded impressed.

"Well, it was something I was working on while in Lima with the Glee Club. Did you know the school had a kitchen for like cooking classes?" Finn asked.

"We took Home Economics our freshman year." Rachel nodded her head, a smile creeping on her face. "We practically had to cook. I remember you burned toast, eggs and bacon when we were learning how to cook different types of meals. I think you got a D on that."

"It was a D+." Finn playfully corrected Rachel. He then looked at her giving her the biggest smile possible. "So about last night…"

"Best night ever." Rachel let out a smirk. She put the eggs into her mouth but then quickly took a napkin and spat them out. "Oh…Finn what did you add in these eggs."

"I put salt and pepper." Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"I think you overdid it with the salt." Rachel washed down the taste with the orange juice. Finn took a bite of his eggs and had the same reaction, grabbing a piece of paper and spitting out the eggs.

"Wow, and I still suck at cooking, even though it looked good." Finn sounded a little disappointed. Rachel looked at the orange juice and noticed that Finn had squeezed the oranges himself.

"Well, that's not entirely true." Rachel shook her head holding the cup of orange juice with a smile. "You still make delicious orange juice."

"Yeah." Finn's expression turned serious while pointing to Rachel's plate. "If I added too much salt to the eggs then don't eat the pancakes." Rachel pushed the plate away as Finn did the same, realizing that breakfast was pretty much a disaster.

"Hey, why don't we go and get some breakfast at the diner." Rachel suggested while getting up to head to her room. "I'm almost certain they don't add as much salt as you do."

"I think that's a good idea." Finn quickly nodded, grabbing the plates of food and throwing the food in the garbage. "I could go for some pancakes that actually taste sweet." Finn turned to Rachel who only playfully rolled her eyes and went into her room to shower and change. Finn walked to the living room to get into his suitcase when he noticed Blaine sound asleep on the couch. Finn wondered if Kurt had let Blaine sleep on the couch for the night. Rachel didn't see Blaine since she was with him. Finn didn't notice Kurt walking into the living room, dressed for work. "So I'm guessing working at Vogue never takes a break." Finn half joked.

"No, it doesn't." Kurt sighed but then straightened up when he saw Blaine sleeping on the couch. "He has to stay here until his court date."

"So he can't go back to Lima when the break is over?" Finn asked.

"No, he can't." Kurt shook his head. "If he does then the cops over in Lima will find him. Better that he stays in New York than trying to leave the state."

"Yeah." Finn placed his hands in his jean pockets while Kurt looked interested towards him.

"What are you doing up so early?"

"I was cooking breakfast for Rachel…she tells me I'm a bad cook." Finn sighed. "I had to agree, I put too much salt in everything."

"Well, I'm sure that she appreciates the thoughtful and kind gesture." Kurt let out an appreciative smile.

"Yeah, she does. But we're going to the diner in order to eat." Finn grabbed his sweater from his suitcase to put on.

"Sounds like date." Kurt looked at his stepbrother.

"Um, no. Not a date at all." Finn lied to Kurt. He didn't want Kurt to know that he and Rachel were back together since Kurt was still occupied with trying to figure out Blaine.

"So it's just breakfast, sounds exciting." Kurt grabbed his workbag before heading towards the door. "I'll bring something for dinner. Just…don't touch anything in the kitchen. We don't need you to make salty dinner." Kurt headed out the door while Finn let out a sigh. Hiding his relationship with Rachel was going to be harder than he thought. Rachel exited the room ready to head outside while looking at Finn.

"You were talking to Kurt?" Rachel wondered.

"Yeah, I was." Finn nodded his head.

"Ah, so how does he feel about Blaine?" Rachel grabbed her coat from the coat hook.

"I guess they're still on ice. Especially since Blaine got arrested. Everything probably went out the window." Finn looked to the sleeping Blaine on the couch. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"He'll be fine. We're not going to be gone for too long." Rachel grabbed her key from the hook. "We should bring him back something though, don't you think?"

"That would probably be a good idea." Finn and Rachel headed out the door towards the diner, to get some decent breakfast in their stomachs.

* * *

"I can't believe you lent Finn money to get Blaine out of jail." Brittany told Santana while they sat at the Lima Bean that morning. Santana had gotten in late the night before from going to New York to deliver money to Finn. She didn't even know why she did it. Maybe she felt that she couldn't see Blaine in jail, suffering all by himself. Maybe Santana had a heart after all.

"Yeah, well they were probably going to beat the crap out of Blaine so I figured why not save him before they damaged his face that will only be useful in getting him in commercials." Santana took a sip of her coffee while looking at Brittany. "I don't' care who pays me, someone still has to pay me $5,000."

"I'm sure Finn will pay you back." Brittany looked down at her bagel. "Are bagels supposed to have those black lines on them?" Santana looked at Brittany's bagel before raising her eyebrow.

"Brittany, they toasted the bagel. It probably got a little burnt." Santana explained.

"Right." Brittany was about to dig into her bagel when she noticed Kitty entering the Lima Bean with the posse of sophomore cheerleaders. Even when there was no school, Brittany still felt that Kitty was just showing up to places just so she could humiliate her in public. "I'm not too hungry anymore." Brittany pushed away her breakfast.

"What do you mean you're not hungry?" Santana looked confused. "You love bagels with cream cheese and jelly."

"Kitty is here." Brittany tried to whisper but sounded loud and forced.

"So she is…" Santana noticed Kitty on the line looking to get a coffee, but noticed that Kitty had a glare in her eyes when she saw Santana and Brittany sitting at one of the tables. Kitty's morning wouldn't be complete without embarrassing Brittany in some way or causing her emotional pain. As soon as Kitty grabbed her coffee, she decided to pay a 'nice' visit to the senior cheerleader and her college ex-girlfriend.

"Brittany, so nice to see you here." Kitty spoke in her fake sweet voice.

"Oh cut the crap Girl-zilla, what are you doing here?" Santana leaned back in her chair, staring at the sophomore.

"Girl-zilla, where did you get that insult? From the translation book that your people had to use when they came into America not knowing English?" Kitty scoffed.

"What is your deal with Brittany anyway?" Santana stood up from the chair, giving Kitty a look that meant that trouble was brewing.

"Brittany's different than the rest of us." Kitty shrugged her shoulders. "She's not like us."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Santana crossed her arms, trying to get some explanation from the mean girl.

"She's a two time senior loser, she's undeservingly captain of the Cheerios, she's stupid and she dated you, which makes her not cool in our book."

"Remember when I said that in 10 years, you would work at Burger King trying to support a kid? Yeah, well not even Burger King would want you." Santana felt the anger course through her body. "Let's try being a custodian at William McKinley for the rest of your sorry life, watching the lives of other kids begin while you're stuck being a Lima loser."

"Did you just call me a Lima loser?" Kitty turned her head to the other cheerleaders and back at Santana. "I wouldn't call me a Lima Loser if you knew what was good for you."

"If I knew what was good for me?" Santana crossed her arms. "And that is supposed to mean what?"

"Think about it, you went to the University of Louisville and yet you still come home to Lima on a consistent basis. Think about it, the only Lima Loser that's here is you." Kitty looked to her posse. Santana looked taken aback from Kitty's comment not sure what to say next. Brittany had never seen Santana get so flustered before in her entire life.

"First off, I am not stupid. Stupid is an offensive word." Brittany stood up from the table to look at Kitty. "Second of all, Santana is not a Lima Loser. Third of all, I'm pretty sure that I heard you got a F on your midterm in biology which is why every parent on the board is trying to get you off the Cheerios. And last of all, I am a unicorn. I am special. There's no one like me."

"A unicorn? So you're a magical mythical creature that has a horn sticking out of his head." Kitty smirked. "That explains the ugly bump on your head."

"That's it!" Santana stood up from her position to face Kitty. "You're not going to get away with this. This means war."

"You might want to go Santana. Isn't it time for your reading lesson? I assumed that you can't read since you speak like you're from the ghetto and you have the brain smaller than a peanut." Kitty started to walk away, but Santana wasn't going to let Kitty get away with this. She grabbed the coffee that was on the table and poured the drink on top of Kitty's head, for everyone to see. Brittany followed Santana's lead, taking the cream cheese from her bagel and drawing whiskers on Kitty's face. Brittany smiled at her work of art, but Kitty wasn't amused. Kitty walked towards Brittany and Santana, her fury evident. "You just messed with the wrong girl."

"I believe you messed with the wrong girls. This is far from over." Santana and Kitty stood in the middle of the Lima Bean while everyone else stood quiet. Santana heard music coming from a kid's iPod and quickly snatched it from them while plugging it into the sound system. If they were going to fight, then they were going to fight Glee Club style, the style that Santana preferred.

[Santana]  
Robert's got a quick hand  
He'll look around the room  
He won't tell you his plan  
He got a rolled cigarette  
Hanging out his mouth  
He's a cowboy kid

[Kitty]  
Yeah he found a six-shooter gun  
In his dad closet in a box full of fun things  
And I don't even know what  
But he's coming for you  
Yeah he's coming for you

[Santana, Kitty and Brittany]  
Yeah all the other kids  
With the pumped up kicks  
Better run, better run  
Outrun my gun  
All the other kids  
With the pumped up kicks  
You better run, better run  
Faster than my bullet

All the other kids  
With the pumped up kicks  
Better run, better run  
Outrun my gun  
All the other kids  
With the pumped up kicks  
You better run, better run  
Faster than my bullet

[Brittany]  
Daddy works a long day  
He'll be coming home late  
He'll be coming home late  
And he's bringing me a surprise  
Cause dinner's in the kitchen  
And it's packed in ice

[Santana and Kitty]  
I've waited for a long time  
Yeah the slight of my hand  
Is like a quick pull trigger  
I reason with my cigarette  
And say you're hairs on fire  
You must have lost your wits yeah

[Santana, Kitty and Brittany]  
All the other kids  
With the pumped up kicks  
Better run, better run  
Outrun my gun  
All the other kids  
With the pumped up kicks  
Better run, better run  
Faster than my bullet

All the other kids  
With the pumped up kicks  
Better run, better run  
Outrun my gun  
All the other kids  
With the pumped up kicks  
Better run, better run  
Faster than my bullet

Santana, Kitty and Brittany stared at each other out of breath, wanting to make known to everyone in Lima, Ohio that there was a war going on. Santana wasn't sure what Kitty had against Brittany, but she wasn't going to let Kitty get away with bothering Brittany. She was going to find some way to end Kitty's reign and get Brittany to see that she still cared about her, but if Santana was going to prove to Kitty that she couldn't mess with Brittany, she was going to need a full proof elaborate plan—and she had a scheme forming in her devious mind.


	11. Rachel: See You Again (Owns My Heart)

_**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to everyone that celebrates it! As a Thanksgiving treat, here is a new chapter of the story! Hope you enjoy! :)**  
_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. (Remember, there's a brand new Glee tonight. "Dynamic Duo!")**_

* * *

_Rachel and I went to a diner that was down the street from her loft and if there was one thing that she was right about—it was this, the food was delicious. The food had some of the best food that I've ever tasted. It had to be better than what I made in Rachel's kitchen this morning. As we ate breakfast, we got into a conversation about NYADA. How NYADA was the single most amazing school out there. She was talking about the winter showcase she was doing in a couple of weeks and she was hoping that I would be there to watch her. I didn't necessarily tell her that I was in charge of the Glee Club since Mr. Shue was in Washington doing something for the arts. But hearing Rachel go on and on about the fact that she was having a great time in New York and having a great time in NYADA made me wonder if I should have taken the Glee Club job…and maybe just stayed with Rachel in New York. I don't want to lose her. I lost her multiple times. I don't want to lose her again. It would hurt too much._

* * *

After breakfast, Rachel and Finn started heading back towards the loft in silence. Rachel held onto Finn's arm, looking around at the leaves falling off the trees, the beauty of it all. The fact that Finn was back in her arms and not letting go of her again was just enough for Rachel. She leaned her head on Finn's arm while Finn gave her a loving smile. His smile soon diminished, thinking about the Glee Club, a diminishing smile that Rachel noticed.

"Is something wrong Finn?" Rachel asked. Finn looked to Rachel shaking his head.

"No, everything's fine." Finn tried to lie, but Rachel stopped walking, raising an eyebrow. Finn knew that Rachel wasn't buying his lie, but he didn't want to lose Rachel again. He couldn't. "I was just thinking about Blaine and Kurt. I mean, we're happy but they aren't."

"That's what's bothering you?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I mean I never had seen Kurt and Blaine so…upset before." Finn explained.

"Well, I'm sure that they're going to get over it." Rachel assured Finn. "After all, Kurt can't be alone forever." Rachel and Finn started walking with one another back to the loft. Rachel seemed to be content with Finn's false worry and that was just enough for Finn for now. He didn't need Rachel to know that he was planning on leaving again. He just wanted to have a happy break with Rachel and not worry about anything.

* * *

Kurt continued to do some more work in the Vogue office, calling clients and trying to pitch ideas. He needed some ideas for the new Spring line that they were planning. He was fortunate for the distraction. He didn't need to think about Blaine or how Blaine was planning on making things more difficult in his life. As a matter of fact, he wanted Blaine to get the whole court thing over with so he could go back to Lima and not come back. It took him all this time to realize that Blaine had his emotions on a rollercoaster, and it was time for Kurt to get off the ride. Kurt continued to work when the intercom went off in Kurt's office.

"Mr. Hummel, there's someone here to see you." The woman said through the intercom.

"Who is it?" Kurt asked, still flipping through papers. "I'm a little busy."

"It's someone named Blaine Anderson." The woman responded. Kurt stopped flipping through the papers, looking down at the intercom in shock. He pursed his lips together, not sure on what to do next before he decided that the most mature thing to do was to let Blaine through the door. It was the only way to let Blaine get his point across so he would leave.

"All right, send him in." Kurt sounded a little bitter. _What did Blaine want this time, _Kurt thought to himself. In a matter of minutes, Blaine entered the door looking almost sheepish. He never visited Kurt's office before, and he was interested in seeing how it looked. Kurt crossed his arms not looking amused. "What did you want Blaine? I have work to do."

"Um, I just wanted to see if you were okay?" Blaine wasn't sure what he was saying at this point. He figured the only way to get on Kurt's good side was to act hospitable towards him.

"Why are you worried about if I'm okay?" Kurt scoffed before turning down to the papers.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you were all right, I mean…you seemed a little frazzled lately." Blaine tried to ask the question again. Kurt motioned for Blaine to close the door. There was something that they needed to talk about. It was important.

"Well, of course I am a bit frazzled. First of all, you came to visit. Then you practically embarrassed me in the park by yelling at me in front of drug dealers, then you get arrested and I have Rachel and Finn come in here telling me the news. Now someone owes Santana $5,000 for helping us bail you out and all you did since you came here was cause problems. Now you can't leave New York until you go to court and the most they'll probably give you is just a fine or something, so you're stuck here for another week." Blaine understood why Kurt was so angry. Maybe he was doing nothing but causing him trouble. Blaine shook his head, trying to prevent tears from falling out of his eyes.

"I'm sorry Kurt, I didn't mean to cause so much trouble ever since I got here." Blaine looked up to Kurt, trying to be sympathetic.

"Well, you have been nothing but trouble since you came here, so I don't know what apologizing is going to do." Kurt replied coldly.

"All right, just stop it." Blaine began to get annoyed. "Did I mess up? Yes. But you're acting like I did the worst thing possible like running someone you loved over. I cheated and I made you upset, and I'm sorry but you need to stop acting like this is all my fault. What you're doing is hurting me."

"Oh good." Kurt turned to his paperwork, not interested in looking at Blaine any longer. "Now you know how I feel."

"No, I know you're hurting worse than I am, but acting this way towards me isn't the answer." Blaine explained.

"So what do you want us to do? Go to couples counseling?" Kurt sarcastically asked.

"Yes." Blaine nodded his head, oblivious to Kurt's sarcasm. Kurt's cold face changed to a confused expression.

"I was joking." Kurt shook his head, confusion still on his face.

"But even though you're joking, your idea was brilliant." Blaine complimented. Kurt couldn't help but blush, before his face turned serious again.

"Do you really think that this is going to work?" Kurt began to look interested.

"We have to try something. Tell me that you don't want to try to work things out with me. If you tell me that, then I'll leave you alone." Blaine turned to Kurt, hoping that Kurt would say something, anything. Kurt thought for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"All right, if this is so important to you, then we'll try it." Kurt finally relented. Blaine would have ran up and hugged Kurt if Kurt didn't put his hand up, about to say something else. "But if this doesn't work, once you get everything straightened out with the court then you have to leave New York, go back to Lima and not come back." Blaine quickly nodded his head.

"Yeah, I agree. But I just want to try this. Thanks Kurt. I'll book us an appointment with the best counselor ever." Blaine started to head towards the door.

"Please don't tell me that it's Ms. Pillsbury." Kurt couldn't help but let out a smirk.

"I guess we'll have to see." Blaine closed the door to Kurt's office, leaving Kurt to think for a moment. Kurt noticed how Blaine was trying everything in his power to keep them together, and Kurt had to admit it was a sweet gesture. Kurt turned to the door to see Taylor opening the door with a smile on his face.

"Kurt, guess what?" Taylor said in a singsong voice towards Kurt.

"What? What is it?" Kurt asked.

"Well apparently, Vogue loves your Spring collection ideas and they are willing to run with it." Taylor sat in the chair next to Kurt, sounding almost a little too excited.

"That's fantastic!" Kurt exclaimed. "Wow, so when do we get to work on the designs?"

"Right away." Taylor got up from the chair to head out the door before turning around with a sincere look. "And about dinner the other night, I'm sorry that I cancelled. I just had a lot on my plate here at work."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all." Kurt waved his hand dismissively.

"I was wondering if you were willing to rain check the dinner date? I made reservations at Sardi's if you're interested." Taylor wondered.

"That would be fantastic." Kurt smiled. "I would love that."

"Great! How about tonight at 8?"

"Perfect." Kurt agreed. Taylor winked at Kurt before heading out of the room. Kurt looked over at the stack of papers, his heart fluttering. Taylor asked him out to dinner. Taylor asked him out to dinner! But as quickly as Kurt got excited, he felt conflicted. Blaine was trying to work things out with him while Taylor asked him to dinner. Kurt put his head on the table, trying to decide what he was going to do. What was the right decision? What could it be?

* * *

"What are we doing here?" Finn questioned to Rachel as they reached one of the bars.

"I came here to sing a couple of days ago to clear my head." Rachel admitted before pulling Finn inside the bar. "It's a karaoke bar. I thought that you would want to check it out."

"Sure, but I don't plan on singing." Finn smirked.

"Oh, why not?" Rachel asked.

"Because I have barely sung since Nationals. I don't think that I can get up there and sing." Finn pointed towards the stage. Rachel put a hand on Finn's shoulder, giving him a smile.

"Well then, how about I go up there and prove to you just how easy it is to get up there and sing?" Rachel placed a kiss on Finn's cheek while Finn pretended to contemplate Rachel's suggestion.

"I think it's a deal." Finn whispered into Rachel's ear, which sent shivers down her spine. Finn placed a kiss on Rachel's cheek as a token of encouragement. Rachel walked over to the bar owner, whispering into the owners ear about what song she wanted to sing and handed him a CD with an instrumental. The owner recognized Rachel automatically as the girl that gave the crowd something to cheer a couple of nights ago.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here once again is the always lovely and talented Rachel Berry who is going to sing a mash-up." The owner encouraged everyone to clap. Rachel got on the stage, holding the microphone close to her as the techno beat started to fill the room. Finn watched as Rachel gave him a wink, and then she got to work.

I got my sight set on you  
And I'm ready to aim  
I have a heart that will  
Never be tamed  
I knew you were something special  
When you spoke my name  
Now I can't wait to see you again

I got a way of knowing  
When something is right  
It feels like I must have known you  
In another life  
Cause I felt this deep connection  
When you looked in my eyes  
Now I can't wait to see you again

Who owns my heart  
Is it love or is it art  
Cause the way you got your body moving  
Got me confused  
I can't tell if it's the beat or sparks  
Who owns my heart  
Is it love or is it art  
You know I wanna believe  
That we're a masterpiece  
But sometimes it's hard to tell in the dark  
Who owns my heart

So come baby  
Keep provoking me  
Keep on roping me  
Like a rodeo  
Baby pull me close  
Come on here we go  
Here we go  
Here we go

I got my sight set on you and I'm ready to aim

Who owns my heart  
Is it love or is it art  
Cause the way you got your body moving  
Got me confused  
I can't tell if it's the beat or sparks  
Who owns my heart  
Is it love or is it art  
You know I wanna believe  
That we're a masterpiece  
But sometimes it's hard to tell in the dark  
Who owns my heart

Whoa, Whoa  
I, I can't wait to see you again  
(Who owns my heart)  
Whoa, Whoa  
I, I can't wait to see you again  
(Who owns my heart)

As soon as the music stopped, everyone on the floor stood up giving Rachel a standing ovation. Finn clapped his hands as loudly as he could, watching the girl he loved sing a mash-up that she worked on with such conviction that it had Finn a little turned on. Rachel got off the stage, walked over to Finn while raising her eyebrow.

"So what did you think? Did you like it?" Finn pulled Rachel close to him, a smile on his face.

"I loved it." Finn kissed Rachel passionately, holding her close to him. Rachel felt that Finn had a little too much passion in his kiss, breaking the kiss and leaning close to his ear.

"Why don't we get out of here?" Finn's eyes widened at Rachel's suggestion before turning his head to her. Rachel nodded her head as if Finn had asked her if she was sure with all of this. Finn nodded his head, grabbing Rachel's hand as they left the bar on the way back to the loft for some time together alone. _Now this is love, _Finn smiled. He felt as if at that moment nothing could go wrong. He felt everything was going to be all right from now on. Little did Finn know, the fairytale stage wasn't going to last very long.


	12. Finn: Have To Say I Love You In A Song

_**A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone! Here's the new chapter of the story. Enjoy!**  
_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee (but how awesome was Glee's episode last week?!) :)**_

* * *

_Sometimes, things don't happen the way that you expect them to. Finn had taught me that lesson. I had expected Finn to come to New York and we would just stay friends. Instead, we were back together, in love, telling each other secrets about what had happened when we were apart. I told Finn I missed the way that his cologne smelled. Finn told me that he missed my smile and the way that it would brighten up his day. Although the High School kids were still out of school for another three days, NYADA students had to head back early, in order to get ready for the Winter Showcase. It was where we invited our friends and our family members, where we shined and where we sang. I wasn't looking forward to go back to school, but looking at Finn that morning in my bed was my motivation—my motivation for me to hurry up with the day and to come home and lay down with him to talk about our day together. There was just one thing—Kurt and Blaine didn't know that we were back together._

* * *

Rachel was busy in the kitchen in her dance leotard, eating a piece of toast, pondering over the evening's events. After Finn and Rachel came home from the bar, they spent time with one another, all by themselves until they remembered that Kurt was coming home early from work. Of course Finn and Rachel had to pretend that they weren't a couple in front of Kurt. Rachel just didn't want Kurt to feel bad that he wasn't with Blaine. But as quickly as Kurt came, he left saying that he was going out to dinner alone and that Rachel and Finn should "have fun." That made Rachel curious about where Kurt was going which made her want to ask questions over breakfast this morning. Kurt entered the room whistling to a tune of the Broadway classic "I Dreamed a Dream", something that caught Rachel's attention. Kurt only did that when there were good things happening in his life. Maybe he was finally back together with Blaine!

"Good morning, someone sounds like they are in a happy mood." Rachel handed Kurt some toast, a smile flashing on her face.

"I had the most amazing night last night." Kurt took a bite of the bread, grinning at Rachel.

"Ooh, does this have to do with Blaine?" Rachel couldn't help but get excited. Kurt stopped for a moment, shaking his head at Rachel's comment.

"Blaine? Why did you think that I was hanging out with Blaine?" Kurt wondered.

"Well, because Blaine's in New York at least until next week and I heard from Blaine that you were working things out with him." Rachel explained.

"Well, we're not working things out." Kurt shook his head. "I mean, he wants us to and we're going to try but—I was talking about the dinner date I went on with Taylor last night."

"You mean the Taylor that stood you up a couple of nights ago when Blaine and Finn came to New York?" Rachel's face turned serious to her friend. "I really don't think that you should date Taylor."

"Why not?" Kurt asked, unsure why Rachel was so into not wanting him to go out with the guy who obviously had a crush on him.

"Because, what about Blaine. I don't think it's fair to rub all of this in his face when he's still here." Rachel explained. "I mean, you can be happy but I just wish that you would try to work all of this out with him. At least forgive him."

"Look at you and Finn. You didn't work things out with him." Kurt went to grab his scarf from the coat hanger. "Why are you being a hypocrite?"

"I'm not being a hypocrite." Rachel exclaimed.

"Well, you're not exactly together with Finn. And even if you were, what were you going to do when the High School break is over? Finn's just going to go back to McKinley and help the Glee Club win another National Championship." Kurt wrapped the scarf around his neck and placed on his jacket, noticing Rachel's face looking disappointed. Rachel remembered that Finn did mention the fact that he was working with the Glee Club for three months. What was Rachel going to do then?

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about that." Rachel softly said. Kurt grabbed his bag before heading out the door.

"Well, I have to go to work. Have fun at school." Kurt closed the door behind him, Rachel staring at the door looking worried. Finn was going to leave again, and Rachel couldn't stop him. Here she was, thinking that she could try to work things out with him this one week in New York but Finn was off and running again, back to McKinley to take care of the Glee Club. Rachel didn't notice Finn entering the kitchen, noticing the toast on the plate.

"Hey." Finn's smile grew wide, seeing Rachel in her leotard. "Boy, don't you look pretty?" Rachel turned around, a forged smile forming but Finn knew that her smile wasn't real. "Is something wrong?"

"I forgot that you were going back to Lima, Ohio." Rachel sat down at the breakfast table, unsure of what she should do.

"Yeah, that's right…the Glee Club. I forgot to mention that at Breakfast yesterday." Finn said looking at her, wondering why it was a problem. "What's the matter?"

"Don't you get it Finn? This is a huge problem." Rachel sighed. "Just as soon as things started to get good again, there you go again in three days back to Lima while I'm stuck here in New York." Finn honestly wasn't seeing the issue.

"Rachel, there's not a problem here All right. Yes, I'm going back to Lima to teach the Glee Club but I'm not going to be gone for three months straight. I'll come and visit every weekend if I have to, and every time that there's another holiday." Finn looked into Rachel's eyes, hoping that she was seeing it his way. "Things are going to be difficult for the next three months, I know—but I'm willing to work this out if you are." Rachel looked deep into Finn's deep brown eyes, a real smile forming this time. She was going to have to put her worry in the back of her mind, and hope for the best for the next three months.

"You know these next three days are going to be hard for me." Rachel told him. "I just got used to you sleeping by my side again."

"And I got used to that too." Finn chuckled, running a hand through Rachel's brown hair. "But we'll get through this, we always do." Rachel nodded her head, leaning in to kiss her boyfriend. Rachel got up from the chair, looking at the clock. She was going to be late for school.

"I'm going to be late for Cassandra July's dance class. Great." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Come on, I'll take you there and I'll explain that it's my fault." Finn said.

"You don't have to do that." Rachel shook her head, but Finn wasn't having any of that.

"I want to take you to school. It will be fun." Finn pressed Rachel. Rachel thought for a moment then nodded her head.

"Fine, if you want to." Rachel walked to the living room to grab her bag from the table.

"And when you finish school then you will have the most amazing lunch possible." Finn promised her.

"Please don't tell me that it's going to be made by you." Rachel pretended to shudder in fear.

"Nope, I'll probably make reservations at Olive Garden or something. Just for you." Finn led Rachel to the door, while Rachel leaned up to place a kiss on Finn's cheek.

"And that's why I love you." Rachel walked out the door with Finn following. He was sure that he had solved the problem for now, but he did begin to worry the more that Rachel brought it up. What if the next three months were the make it or break it point of their relationship. Finn had to show Rachel that he was serious about being with her even though they were far away—and that was when he had an idea.

* * *

Brittany was currently in her room reading cheerleading magazines, trying to get moves so that she could upstage everyone when it was time to go back to school in three days—when she heard a knock at the door. Brittany stood up, from her bed, walked to the room door only to find Santana there holding a pen and paper. Brittany wasn't confused that Santana was there. They had sung in Lima Bean yesterday to Kitty about some kid named Robert—or something like that. She didn't get what the point of the song was.

"Santana? What are you doing here?" Brittany questioned.

"I'm here because I need to come up with a plan on how to make Kitty wish she never tried to stand up to me. And I needed somewhere to think since you have just as much to do with it as I do." Santana walked in to sit on Brittany's bed.

"Well if we're going to think about this then we have an hour. " Brittany said before pointing towards her tabby cat. "Lord Tubbington's shoe tying lesson is at noon."

"Wait, your teaching Lord Tubbington how to tie shoes? Santana wondered.

"Yes, so is there something that you need?" Brittany asked.

"I was thinking of the multiple ways that we can get Kitty back. I thought of ten million ideas…and then I filtered out the ones that would send us to jail." Santana handed Brittany the piece of paper for her to read. Brittany skimmed through the paper only to find one thing on the list: toilet papering Kitty's house.

"Why are we going to toilet paper her house?" Brittany held the paper looking confused.

"Because if we toilet paper her house then she'll get the message not to mess with us." Santana shrugged her shoulders.

"Wow, you lost your touch." Brittany said. Santana looked taken aback at Brittany's comment, not sure what she meant by it.

"What do you mean I lost my touch?" Santana questioned.

"What I mean by that is that the real Santana wouldn't care what the consequences were. She would attack. The real Santana wouldn't just resort to throwing paper in Kitty's window, although if we could make a map with the paper towel about where to find a leprechaun afterwards, I'd be all for it." Brittany tapped her chin thoughtfully before an idea popped into her mind. "I have an idea."

"What's the idea?" Santana became interested.

"All right, here's the idea. How about at cheerleading practice at school, we make Kitty look like she's dating everyone in the school." Brittany suggested. Santana looked shocked at the fact that Brittany thought of it herself. Brittany's brain didn't usually have the best ideas.

"So you want us to trash Kitty's reputation?" Santana let out a small grin. "That's brilliant."

"She already did it to mine and she's planning on doing it to yours so, I think that this would be the perfect way to get her back. Like they said in the old days, a brain for a brain." Brittany smiled.

"I think you mean an eye for an eye." Santana clarified.

"Yeah, that will work too." Brittany pointed at Santana writing down her idea in purple crayon. Santana couldn't help but smile at Brittany while she wrote. They were going to get Kitty back, if it was the last thing that they did.

* * *

"I don't get it, where are you taking me?" Rachel looked over to Finn who was holding her hand, pulling her to a location. Finn had picked Rachel up from school like he promised but instead of taking her to a restaurant for lunch he started pulling her downtown-all the way to Brooklyn.

"It's a surprise." A grin released from Finn's lips, watching Rachel's confused expression. Once they reached the karaoke bar, Rachel looked up at the name and back at Finn, not sure what they were doing there.

"Finn, why are we at the karaoke bar for lunch? We can always come here." Rachel became muddled.

"Because I asked the guy if I could sing here for the lunch rush. He surprisingly said yes, considering he never heard me sing." Finn led Rachel inside of the bar, placing her in one of the seats. "All right, I want you to sit there." Rachel obliged, looking over at the stage as Finn headed up there to let Rachel know how much this week had meant to him and how much he wanted to be with her. Finn grabbed the microphone, staring out at the crowd with a grin before focusing his attention on none other than Rachel. "This song is for my girlfriend Rachel. I'm leaving in a couple of days back to Ohio while she stays in New York and I wanted to sing her a song that comes from the heart, so I hope you like it." The music started to fill the room, causing Finn to open his mouth wide and sing.

Well I know it's kind of late  
I hope I didn't wake you  
But what I gotta say can't wait  
I know you'd understand

Every time I try to tell you  
The words just come out wrong  
So I have to say I love you in a song

Yeah I know it's kind of strange  
But every time I'm near you  
I just run out of things to say  
I know you'd understand

Every time I try to tell you  
The words just come out wrong  
So I have to say I love you in a song

Every time the time was right  
All the words just come out wrong  
So I have to say I love you in a song

Well I know it's kind of late  
I hope I didn't wake you  
But what I gotta say can't wait  
I know you'd understand

But every time I'd try to tell you  
The words just come out wrong  
But I have to say I love you in a song

As soon as the music ended, the crowd began to cheer for Finn—and Rachel felt tears in her eyes. She wasn't crying because she was sad but she was crying because the song made her realize how much she meant to Finn. Finn got off the stage, walking over to Rachel hoping that the tears weren't sad.

"Why are you crying? Did the song make you sad or something?" Finn looked back at the stage hoping he could sing another song that would make Rachel happy. Rachel shook her head, placing her hand in Finn's.

"No, I'm not crying because I'm sad." Rachel smiled while a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm crying because that was a beautiful song and it made me realize how much you love me. And I know how much that I love you." Rachel leaned up to place a kiss on Finn's lips, engulfing him with love. Finn smiled, hugging Rachel as tightly as he could. _I'm sure going to miss this, _Finn sighed. He loved being in New York with Rachel, but he wasn't sure that the long distance relationship was going to work. He really hoped that he did.


	13. Brittana and Klaine: Dreaming Of You

_**A/N: Sorry that I haven't updated the story in a while. Here's a brand new chapter so enjoy! :)**  
_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, but I wish I did. **_

* * *

_Operation Humiliate Kitty didn't work out so well. From the moment Kitty entered the school that morning, Brittany had did good on her word and told the whole school that Kitty slept with everyone from the school Football team to the Chess team (note, I didn't know we had one). Instead of being some sleaze bag, every boy felt that if they actually were able to tap Kitty that they would be some kind of god. So she had offers from everyone, only increasing her popularity. Damn. Maybe I should have stuck to toilet papering her house. Anyway, Brittany and I were running out of ideas. Brittany on ways of leveling the playing score with the school tap bag, and me…on how to win Brittany back._

* * *

"I can't believe that the ingenious plan that you came up with didn't work." Santana followed Brittany into the William McKinley High library, upset with the fact that Kitty was just more popular and Brittany was still the laughing stock of the cheer leading squad.

"Well, she's Kitty. I possibly should have thought that through." Brittany's' made a face as if she had just eaten a Sour Patch kid.

"No, we're going to get her back." Santana seemed too interested on trying to find revenge that it was beginning to worry Brittany.

"It's okay Santana." Brittany placed a hand on Santana's shoulder. "I know that you had your heart set on putting Kitty in her place, but what's done is done."

"Well we have to do something." Santana shook her head, until she saw Brittany go in her bag to take out her phone.

"Kiki, should we do something about Kitty?" Brittany spoke into her cellphone.

"No, I think that what's done is done." The automated machine answered. Brittany put her phone back in her bag, giving Santana a grin.

"Kiki has spoken." Santana looked in disbelief towards Brittany. She was listening to a cell phone. A cell phone! This has to be a new level of insanity for Brittany.

"You're taking advice from a cell phone?" Santana pointed back to Brittany's bag, still staring into Brittany's cerulean eyes.

"Yeah, Kiki tells me how to do everything. She's kind of my good luck charm." Brittany smiled. The bell rang, making Brittany concerned. "Oh, I better go. I have some class called Napematics. I heard that in this class, you get to sleep on a carpet for 45 minutes."

"Are you sure that you don't mean you have _Mathematics_?" Santana corrected her friend.

"Really? I thought I saw the word 'nap' on my schedule. I heard they were planning on making the schedules more like kindergarten where you nap and play with blocks all day." Brittany pulled out her schedule, suddenly looking more confused than usual. "Maybe I should go and speak with the counselor. See you later." Santana noticed Brittany walking out of the room and she couldn't help but let out a smile. _Oh Brittany, _Santana thought to herself. Santana turned around for a moment to walk out of the library when…

_WHAM!_

Santana was hit with the cold, sticky, sweetness known as none other than…the slushie. The question was, who threw it? Santana turned her head to find none other than Kitty laughing with her other cheerleader friends.

"Hope you enjoy the slushie to your face. Just like old times, huh "Glee"-aych!" Kitty walked past Santana while the slushie dripped down her neck and down her back. That was it. This was war.

* * *

When Rachel came home for lunch, she was almost expecting Finn to be there, ready to sit with her so she could talk about her morning about Cassandra July and wanting to get an invitation to the Winter Showcase. However, all Rachel saw when she entered the apartment was Blaine—who was wearing a suit. Blaine noticed Rachel's face, letting out a slight chuckle before sitting down.

"Sorry, I was just in my own little world here." Blaine apologized.

"Oh, it's fine." Rachel waved her hand dismissively. "So how did court go this morning?"

"Surprisingly good." Blaine answered, taking off his tie. "They slapped me with a fine but other than that they said if I stood out of trouble then they would wipe it off my record."

"That's great. So now you're cleared to go to Lima, right?" Rachel placed her bag down, walking to Blaine.

"Kurt said that he wanted to tell me something before I left. The only problem is that he isn't here." Blaine turned to Rachel seeing her in a depressed state. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, it's just that Finn left yesterday and I kind of miss having him around." Rachel felt that the room was a little too quiet for her liking.

"Oh, don't worry Rachel. Finn said he was going to be back by the weekend." Blaine assured him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Rachel sat down on the sofa, looking at her watch. "Did Kurt say he was going to come here for lunch?"

"You know, I don't even know." Blaine looked to her. "What do you think I should do?"

"I think that if you want to see Kurt, you should go to _Vogue_ and speak with him there. Maybe he got caught up with work or something." Rachel suggested.

"You know what, that sounds like a great idea." Blaine got up to get his jacket from the hook that was by the door. "I'll see you later."

"You're going to Vogue now?" Rachel chuckled slightly.

"Yep, I want to make this conversation a quick one!" Blaine sounded excited as he rushed out the door to go to Vogue. Rachel shook her head while still laughing, turning her attention to the television. She was wondering what Finn was doing right now. He was probably teaching the Glee Club how to hit high notes or something. There was no way that they were going to win Sectionals if they didn't hit at least one high note during their performance.

* * *

Blaine walked through the hallways of Vogue, trying to see if he could find Kurt. Maybe Kurt was running a bit late or something. Well, what mattered was Blaine was there now and he was finally going to be able to talk to Kurt. He was going to try to bridge the gap between them. Blaine hadn't been this excited to see Kurt and talk since he went to New York. When he reached Kurt's office, he looked at his reflection on the shiny doorknob before he knocked on the door. When he peered through the window however, he stopped his motions, blankly staring inside the room. He saw Kurt talking with some guy that worked there, and Kurt looked extremely happy. Blaine continued to watch the scene unfold before him, then as if being close and smiling was enough—Kurt and his mystery man kissed. Not sure of what to do, Blaine started to run down the halls of Vogue and out the door. Clearly, Blaine wasn't wanted by Kurt. Blaine ran out of the building, tears streaming down his cheeks, not sure of what he should do. Blaine decided to do what was best for everyone—he was going home to Lima, and he wasn't going to talk to Kurt ever again.

* * *

Rachel ate dinner while cuddled up in her blanket, watching reruns of _American Idol_, when she heard Kurt enter the room with a smile on his face. Rachel turned to Kurt, grabbing the remote and turning off the television in order to give him her undivided attention.

"Hey, so how did it go with you and Blaine?" Rachel questioned, giving Kurt a smile. Kurt's happy expression turned to confusion at the mention of Blaine's name.

"What are you talking about?" Kurt wasn't sure what Rachel had meant. "I didn't' speak with Blaine today. I said I wanted to talk to him but he never showed up at my job."

"That's funny, at around lunch time he said that he was heading to Vogue and that he was going to talk to you." Rachel stood up from the sofa, going over to grab her cellphone to call Blaine. As Rachel continued to keep the phone close to her ear, Kurt looked over to the television to sit down. After a couple of moments, Rachel walked back, not sure if she should tell Kurt the news.

"Um, Blaine did go there but he left and went home to Lima." Rachel explained.

"What?" Kurt began to sound almost heartbroken. "Why?"

'Because when he got there to talk to you, he saw you kissing someone and I'm going to guess that you were kissing the guy named Taylor—the one that you've been talking about since forever."

"Blaine saw that?" Kurt's expression turned blank, staring at an apologetic Rachel. "I…I didn't know he was going then."

"Why did you want to speak with Blaine?" Rachel asked.

"I wanted to talk to him because he wanted to talk about getting back together." Kurt felt his voice breaking. "Oh, god what did I do?"

"You have to call Blaine and explain that what he saw wasn't really what he saw." Rachel tried to get Kurt to listen.

"Right Rachel, because I was giving CPR to Taylor while we were both standing." Kurt sardonically said to his friend. His face then turned serious, putting his hand through his hair. "What am I going to do? I have to call him."

"The phone's there. I'm going to be in my room if you need anything." Rachel pointed to her room, walking to try to call Finn and ask how his day went. Kurt dialed Blaine's number, holding the phone to his ear in hopes that Blaine would answer. Blaine's phone went straight to voicemail. Kurt took a moment to answer before letting out a sigh.

"Hey, Blaine it's Kurt." Kurt tried to prevent his voice from breaking. "I, I need to talk to you. What you saw wasn't what you saw. Please call me back." Kurt hung up the phone call, staring over at the phone, waiting for Blaine to return his call. A moment later, Kurt saw Blaine calling him back, prompting him to pick up the phone.

"_What I saw wasn't what I saw_?" Blaine's voice sounded angry. "_How dumb do you think I am Kurt? I saw what you did. You kissed Taylor_."

"So my CPR excuse wont' work. Okay." Kurt let out a sigh, still holding the phone to his ear. "Blaine, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I mean one minute we were talking and the next minute he kissed me."

"_And you couldn't have said no?_" Blaine's voice was cracking, meaning that Blaine was about to cry.

"I know that it looked bad." Kurt tried to prevent the tears from coming out of his eyes. "But I'm really confused right now Blaine. I hope you know that."

"_How are you confused?! We talked about trying to get counseling and then you kiss some guy. Is this the guy that you've been trying to date ever since I showed up in New York?_" Kurt wasn't sure, but he was almost certain that Blaine was crying.

"I'm confused because I like both you and Taylor and I didn't realize I still liked you until you came back to New York in order to try to win me over—even with all your craziness." Kurt explained.

"_Well, I hope you have fun with Taylor_." Blaine spoke after a moment of stunned silence. "_Because it seems to me that even after I told you I was sorry, and after I tried to make things right you seemed to have made up your mind. So, go ahead. Date Taylor. Just…don't' come running back to me when he breaks your heart._" Kurt heard a click on the phone, meaning that Blaine had hung up on him. Kurt's heart felt heavy, full of sadness and full of remorse. That one kiss with Taylor broke apart Klaine—possibly forever. And there was nothing Kurt could do or say to Blaine in order to make it better. It was over.

* * *

After Glee Club ended for the evening, Brittany walked towards her locker in order to grab her jacket and go home. As she was closing her locker, she didn't expect Santana to be there standing at the end of the hallway with a smile on her face. Brittany walked over to Santana, clutching her books and jacket close to her, wanting to figure out what Santana wanted.

"Is something wrong?" Brittany questioned. Santana shook her head, staring into Brittany's blue eyes.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just that—I was working on something in the auditorium and I wanted you to hear it. Maybe it will give you guys an idea for Sectionals or something." Santana led Brittany to the auditorium, prompting Brittany to sit down in one of the chairs as Santana went over to the stage. "You know how Mr. Schuester likes to do ballads for like the first number, so I was working on this ballad. Now, I need you to listen very carefully because there's a hidden message behind this ballad. Do you think you can do that?" Brittany quickly nodded her head, prompting Santana to nod to Brad to start playing the piano. Santana held the microphone close to her lips, staring at Brittany intently.

(Santana)  
Late at night when all the world is sleeping  
I stay up and think of you  
And I wish on a star, that somewhere you are  
Thinking of me too.

Cause I'm dreaming of you tonight  
Till tomorrow, I'll be holding you tight  
And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be  
Than here in my room, dreaming about you and me

Wonder if you ever see me and I  
Wonder if you know I'm there  
If you look in my eyes, would you see what's inside  
Would you even care  
I just want to hold you close but so far  
All I have are dreams of you  
So I wait for the day and the courage to say  
How much I love you  
Yes I do

I'll be dreaming of you tonight  
Till tomorrow, I'll be holding you tight  
And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be  
Than here in my room, dreaming about you and me

Corazon  
(Brittany: I can't stop dreaming of you)  
No puedo dejar de pensar en ti  
(Brittany: I can't stop dreaming)  
Como te necesito  
(Brittany: I can't stop dreaming)  
Mi amor, como te extrano

Late at night when all the world, is sleeping  
I stay up and think of you  
And I still can't believe, that you came up to me  
And said I love you  
I love you too

Now I'm dreaming with you tonight  
Till tomorrow and for all of my life  
And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be  
Than here in my room, dreaming with you endlessly

With you, tomorrow  
Cause I'm dreaming of you

(Brittany: Endlessly)

As soon as the music ended, Santana stared down at Brittany seeing that the blonde cheerleader was smiling. Did Brittany get the message of the song?

"That's going to be a great number for Sectionals. You should perform that. If Mercedes's clone can perform then so can you." Brittany grinned, staring at Santana who was on the stage. Santana managed to smile at Brittany, but her heart was broken in half that Brittany didn't get the point of the song. It looked like Santana was going to have to try another way to get Brittany to understand that breaking up was a mistake. She just had to figure out how.


	14. Finchel: Two Is Better Than One

_ **A/N: Hello everyone and here is another chapter of my Glee story 'Nobody Said It Easy Easy.' Sorry I didn't update for a while but I will try my hardest to update this story. I really want to see the direction I can bring the characters in. Anyway, here is the new chapter. I hope you read and enjoy! **_

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. (But why do we have to wait until January 24 for the new episode of Glee?)_**

* * *

_Running the Glee Club has to be one of the hardest things, I have ever done. I mean there's a lot of preparation, especially with everyone back from vacation and everything. This year, it was Sectionals and we had to have a killer performance or else we were going to lose to the Warblers again. We couldn't lose to the Warblers, not when we were so close. I was going to make this week something special. I was going to have the students of Glee Club choose what song they wanted to do for Sectionals and then we decide what performance was the best. This was going to be the best two weeks of preparation ever. Especially since Rachel promised, she was going to fly to Lima today and help me find a winning recipe for the Glee Club. Rachel and I being co-captains in love—it was almost like High School._

* * *

"Are you sure that I'm not intruding on the Glee Club this week?" Rachel held her suitcase close to her, rolling it towards the door of the loft, speaking with Finn on the phone.

"_Not at all." _Finn answered, his voice sounding as if he honestly didn't mind. "_By the way, how did you get out of classes at NYADA for a week?"_

"It was pretty easy. Especially since the seniors were hosting some big showcase and the freshman, sophomores and juniors weren't allowed to even set foot in the building." Rachel let out a slight chuckle. "I'm also bringing Kurt with me to Lima so he can help us, isn't that fun?"

"_Yeah, that's great but I thought he had to work at Vogue?"_ Finn sounded muddled.

"He was able to get some vacation time and besides, he wanted to come and support you." Rachel held the phone to her ear, looking over to the room. "Kurt, come on! We're going to miss our flight!" Kurt came out of the room, crossing his arms towards Rachel, only carrying a duffel bag. "That's all you're going to pack? We're going to be gone for a week."

"Everything I'm going to need is right in here." Kurt patted the duffle bag, eyeing Rachel's suitcase. "Rachel, we're only going for the week. Why did you pack enough close to wrap around the world from here to Antarctica?"

"I'm a girl Kurt. Girls' need to look good at every occasion." Rachel explained, placing the phone back towards her ear. "All right, I'll call you as soon as we land in Lima."

"_Sounds like a plan. See you then._" Finn hung up the phone as Rachel had done the same thing.

"Let's go. I don't get why your helping our your ex-boyfriend anyway." Kurt and Rachel walked towards the elevator of the building, dragging Rachel's suitcases along.

"Well…because Finn and I have some history with music and I figured what would be a better way to get introduced to the new Glee Club than to have the co-captains of the old Glee Club show up and help?" Everything Rachel said wasn't exactly a lie. There was more to it than just going home and seeing Finn and the others again. She still hadn't told Kurt that she and Finn were together, and she and Finn agreed that it would stay a secret just for a little while longer. She couldn't wait to go back to Lima in order to help with Sectionals. It was going to be a complete blast. Kurt on the other hand wasn't looking as forward to the trip as Rachel was. Secretly, Kurt hated the fact that he was going to see Blaine at William McKinley High. He was sure that Blaine wanted nothing to do with him, especially after the way he kissed Taylor while Blaine showed up to the Vogue office. This was going to be one long week.

* * *

Finn continued to look through some sheet music for Sectionals, trying to find a song that the New Directions could do. After much deliberation, Finn decided 'Gangnam Style' wasn't going to be one of the songs. The last thing he needed was the New Directions to lose to the Warblers because the team decided to sing in Korean. Finn continued to stare at the paper, seeing two familiar faces at the door: Rachel and Kurt.

"Guys! Hey!" Finn walked over to Rachel and Kurt, giving them a hug before going back to his desk.

"Hey." Rachel gave him a smile.

"I thought I was going to pick you guys up at the airport." Finn was somewhat startled by the fact that Rachel and Kurt were standing there instead of at the airport.

"We decided to just come straight down to the school in order to surprise the kids. We wanted to show them the old New Directions spirit." Rachel flashed a grin, thinking about the old days where they won Sectionals, Regionals _and_ Nationals.

"Yeah, Rachel I was wondering if you wouldn't mind performing for the Glee Club in order to show them what a star looks like." Finn pointed his clipboard to Rachel, watching her clapping her hands in excitement.

"I had been prepared for this moment, don't you worry Finn. I won't let you down."

"So what am I going to do?" Kurt wondered.

"You're going to perform too but a lot of the kids have been asking to meet the famous Rachel Berry." Finn explained.

"So everyone including Blaine is more interested in seeing Rachel perform instead of me?" Kurt crossed his arms, letting out a sigh. "I see William McKinley hasn't' changed a bit."

"Well, Glee Club is happening in a couple of minutes so I suggest that we get ready." Finn's attention turned to his stepbrother. "Kurt, do you mind getting Brad? Last time I checked he was in the auditorium coming up with music for Coach Sylvester's 'Cirque De Sue-lei."

"Sure, I have nothing better to do anyway." Kurt started to head towards the door before turning his attention to Finn and Rachel. "Do you realize that Brad has never said a word the last four years he's been working for the Glee Club?" With that, Kurt headed to find the famous pianist that would never utter a word. Finn made sure that Kurt turned the corner, before planting a kiss on Rachel's lips. Rachel responded to his kiss, holding Finn closer to her as if she needed him.

"I missed you so much." Finn whispered after they parted their lips. "Spending a week without you killed me. I'm actually glad that they're having the senior NYADA show and must I say…" Finn observed Rachel's red sweater dress along with her black pumps. "You look so sexy."

"Well thank you." Rachel couldn't wipe the smile off her face even if she tried. "I missed you too and I miss not waking up with you in my bed but at least I get to spend a week in Lima helping you win Sectionals. So how did last week's Glee Club lesson go?"

"Oh, that sucked." Finn recalled the lesson from the week before. "I wanted them to do songs from the kids musical _High School Musical _but Kitty literally pushed Marley into the closet over there in order to sing 'You Are The Music In Me' with Jake. Then Coach Sylvester came in the room and said that we're 'tainting the good name that is Disney with our gremlin looks and our off-key singing that was so bad that we make William Hung sound like he's worthy of a Grammy.' So yeah, it was pretty bad."

"Yikes. Well, maybe you shouldn't do Disney anymore…although I am _sure_ you would make an amazing Troy Bolton should William McKinley put on _High School Musical_ as the year's production." Rachel gave Finn a loving smile as he placed his hand in hers.

"You get me, you really do." Finn whispered, leaning in to kiss Rachel again. Rachel stopped the kiss for a moment, staring at Finn as if she had the greatest idea in the world.

"Sing with me."

"What?"

"Sing with me." Rachel repeated.

"You want me to sing with you, but we're introducing you to the Glee Club." Finn didn't see where Rachel was going with it.

"Come on, please? I had the greatest idea for a song that we could do for them and it could be worthy as a Sectionals ballad. The thing is, the song only works if there's two people." Rachel put up two fingers, giving Finn the puppy dog eyes. Finn considered it for a moment, finally relenting.

"All right, so what's the song you want to do?" Finn questioned. Rachel ran over to the piano, pulling a piece of paper from the folder.

"I want us to do this one." Rachel showed Finn the sheet music. He observed the song for a moment, realizing that the song was perfect.

"This…this is perfect." Finn agreed.

"So what do you say? Want to do a Finchel duet…partner?" Rachel held out her hand as if she was asking Finn to shake it, almost like a business transaction. Finn took Rachel's hand to shake it, agreeing that it would have been a good idea for them to do it. Just then, Finn and Rachel turned their heads to see the Glee Club kids walking in one by one, observing the one and only Rachel Berry.

"Oh my god, guys…it's Rachel Berry." Kitty pointed over to Rachel.

"You must be Kitty…I've heard so much about you." Rachel held out her hand for Kitty to shake.

"Like what? How I'm fabulous?" Kitty fluffed her hair that was currently in her signature ponytail.

"More like a nightmare." Brittany muttered, walking past Kitty to take her seat.

"Well…glad to meet you." Rachel said after a stunned awkward silence. Rachel noticed Marley staring at her almost as if she was in a daze. "You must be Marley. I've heard great things about you."

"Really?" Marley wondered.

"Really." Rachel nodded her head. Marley simply let out a grin and walked over to sit next to Jake.

"Now guys, for those of you that don't know, this is Rachel Berry. She helped us win Nationals last year and she was the Glee co-captain for the last three years." Finn introduced Rachel to the class.

"Is she going to sing something?" Marley asked, her face full of anticipation.

"As a matter of fact, I am." Rachel was excited to see that Marley shared the same passion and ambition as her.

"Rachel and I have prepared something for you guys if you don't mind." Finn saw the Glee Club leaning closer with intent.

"Are you kidding? Rachel can show all these amateurs how it's done." Tina said from the back of the choir room. Rachel and Finn eyed one another nervously, hearing footsteps from the doorway. Brad the pianist entered the room with Kurt in tow. Kurt noticed Blaine sitting in the back of the choir room, giving him a moment of eye contact before taking his seat in between Jake and Ryder.

"And for those of you that don't know, that's…"

"Lady Hummel." Kitty finished, looking at her perfectly manicured nails.

"All right…or we can just call him Kurt." Finn stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So Brad, the music is on the piano. Whenever you're ready." In that moment, Brad started to play the piano while the other members of the band played their guitars and drums and the entire Glee club focused on the couple that was Finchel.

(Finn)  
I remember what you wore on the first day  
You came into my life and I thought hey,  
You know this could be something  
Cause everything you do and words you say  
You know that it all takes my breath away  
And now I'm left with nothing

(Finn and Rachel)

So maybe it's true  
That I can't live without you  
And maybe two is better than one  
There's so much time  
To figure out the rest of my life  
And you already got me coming undone  
And I'm thinking two is better than one

(Rachel)  
I remember every look upon your face

(Finn)  
The way you roll your eyes the way you taste  
You make it hard for breathing

(Rachel)  
Cause when I close my eyes and drift away  
I think of you and everything's okay  
I'm finally now believing

(Finn & Rachel)

So maybe it's true  
That I can't live without you  
And maybe two is better than one  
There's so much time  
To figure out the rest of my life  
And you already got me coming undone  
And I'm thinking two is better than one

(Finn)  
I remember what you wore on the first day  
You came into my life and I thought hey,

(Finn and Rachel)

So maybe it's true  
That I can't live without you  
And maybe two is better than one  
There's so much time  
To figure out the rest of my life  
And you already got me coming undone

And I'm thinking  
That I can't live without you  
Cause baby two is better than one  
There's so much time  
To figure out the rest of my life  
But I figured out when all is said and done  
Two is better than one

Two is better than one

As soon as Rachel and Finn finished their duet, the class burst into cheers, excited to hear someone from New York bracing their presence to them as if they were important. Rachel had to admit she missed being in this room. She felt as if the Glee Club was her family and while staring at Finn, she felt as if she was home once again and enjoying what was the glory of her High School days.

* * *

After Glee practice ended, Kurt offered to stay behind and put the sheet music away in the closets. He knew that everyone was going to want to gawk over the one and only Rachel Berry, so he decided to take the time to become reacquainted with the old choir room. Kurt put the papers in the closet, but when he closed the door, he noticed Blaine entering the classroom as if he was looking for something.

"Oh…I'll come back later." Blaine started to head out of the classroom until Kurt stopped him.

"Blaine, we need to talk about this." Kurt sighed.

"There's _nothing_ to talk about." Blaine hissed, heading out the Glee club choir room.

"Nothing happened between Taylor and me since that day. I promise, Blaine." Kurt almost pleaded.

"I don't care anymore. If you want to be with Taylor, I can't stop you." Blaine walked to the back of the choir room to grab his jacket, and then started to head out the door. "Kurt, you need to make up your mind, because I'm tired of waiting around for you." Blaine headed out the door, closing it right behind him. Kurt stared at the door, wondering if he should have even come to Lima. Right now, his heart wasn't feeling in the right place—and it might have something to do with the fact that he no longer had Blaine.

* * *

_Song Featured: Two Is Better Than One by Boys Like Girls feat. Taylor Swift (Sung by Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson)_


	15. Rachel: Titanium

**_A/N: _I know, I got pretty bad at updating this story and I'm sorry. But you're wait has been rewarded with a brand new chapter. Hope you enjoy. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Sorry. **

* * *

_Being in Lima for a full week made me realize how different Ohio and New York is. In New York, being different is what makes you special but when you're in Lima, being different makes you a loser, doomed to being slushied every period and thrown in a locker until your friend (if you had a friend) came to save you. New York and Lima are also different because of Finn. In New York, Finn is nowhere to be seen, leaving me on my own while examining the city. But in Lima he's there, helping the Glee Club win Sectionals, Regionals and possibly Nationals. I know one thing. Sectionals are going to rock. Do you know why? Because Finn and I have what I like to call 'musical chemistry' and that beats anything the Warblers or any other group can throw at us. _

* * *

Rachel walked along the hallways of William McKinley, reminiscing when she was a senior, how she had roamed the halls as the lead of the New Directions. Sure, she wasn't popular, but by the time she graduated High School, she was friends with Quinn and Santana, all while bringing New Directions to their first Nationals win since when Mr. Shue was in Glee Club. However, Rachel felt like she could help some of the other students break out of their shells, emerge as victors and eventually lead them to the promise land that was a win at Nationals. But who could Rachel help? Jake Puckerman? No. Too much of a bad boy image. Kitty Wilde? No way. Not a chance. Maybe…

"Hi." Rachel walked up to the locker that belonged to Marley Rose, who was in the midst of getting her books for the next class. "Marley, is it?"

"Yeah." Marley closed her locker, staring at Rachel in an almost star struck manner.

"Come, walk and talk with me." Rachel motioned for Marley to follow her. Marley closed her locker, following Rachel to the courtyard. "So, I heard that you have an impressive voice. In fact, I heard you auditioned with _New York State of Mind_. It's funny, because that's the song I sang my first week at NYADA."

"Really?" Marley's eyes broadened.

"Yep." Rachel nodded her head. "As a matter of fact, how about for the rest of the week I coach you to be the best lead for New Directions, you know…besides me and Finn."

"That would be great, I would really appreciate that." Marley quickly approved to Rachel's proposal. "So when would you like to rehearse?"

"How about before Glee Club. That way I can get together all my notes on how to make you basically another me." Rachel smiled. Marley engrossed her books tighter to her chest, nodding her head.

"That sounds great. Oh, I better go before I'm late for my next class." Marley looked at the clock on the wall. "It was great talking to you and thank you so much for taking your time to help me, Rachel. You really are awesome." With that, Marley walked past Rachel, heading into the classroom while Rachel gave a confident grin towards her new pupil. Yes, Rachel Berry was going to shape young Marley Rose into a lean, mean, singing machine. And if she were going to do that, she was going to have to take a trip to Dalton in order to get the scoop on the Warblers.

* * *

"Are you sure that we should be here?" Kurt wondered, Rachel pulling him along the Dalton hallways. "Wait, we don't go to school here. How did you get them to let us in?"

"I gave the guy a 50." Rachel quickly responded, prompting Kurt to silence himself as they examined through the door window. "All right, let's see what we got here."

"Wait, we're spying on the Warblers?" Kurt exclaimed. "I thought you said you were just going to talk to Sebastian…and then we'd get frozen yogurt."

"We are, it's just that I need to see what the Warblers are up to for Sectionals." Rachel didn't see the urgency that Kurt had. "After all, I need to whip those kids into shape if they're going to have any chance to beat Sebastian and the Warblers."

"Well, I'm afraid that you're going to be terribly disappointed because Sebastian isn't the leader of the Warblers anymore." A voice that wasn't Kurt's said. Kurt and Rachel knew what that meant; they've been spotted. Rachel and Kurt turned their heads, eyeing the man that spoke. Rachel and Kurt let out a gasp, seeing the man with a chiseled body, which was ever so covered with his Warblers blazer. He must have been a new Warbler because Rachel and Kurt had never seen him before.

"Do you mind if I ask, who the heck are you?" Kurt pointed at him.

"I'm Hunter Clarington the Third and I go to Dalton here." Hunter looked to Rachel and Kurt, crossing his arms. "But judging by your outfits, you don't go to Dalton. So I think the main question here should be, who the hell are _you_?"

"Kurt Hummel. Rachel Berry. Now that we're acquainted, let's get out of here Rachel." Kurt started to pull Rachel by her jacket but Hunter put his hand up, signaling the two teenagers to stop.

"Who sent you?" Hunter elevated an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, who sent us?" Rachel tried to play innocent but Hunter simply gave a hollow chuckle.

"Don't play that card with me. I've seen that move so many times, and I have to say you wouldn't win an Oscar for that, sister." Hunter shook his head, his face turning serious. "Now, I'm going to ask again, who sent you?"

"Why does it matter who sent us? We didn't see anything, so now if you'll excuse us." Kurt turned around, grabbing Rachel by the jacket but Hunter grabbed Kurt's sleeve to prevent him from walking any further.

"Make one more move and I'll have you arrested for trespassing." Hunter threatened.

"And it looks like we're staying Rachel." Kurt turned back around, gazing at Hunter. "So where did you come from, because you were never here at Dalton, not even when I was here?"

"Wait, you came to Dalton too?" Hunter's face turned puzzled.

"Yeah, I came to Dalton two years ago." Kurt nodded. Hunter motioned Rachel and Kurt into one of the rooms, closing the door behind them.

"I've jumped from Glee Club to Glee Club." Hunter stuffed his hands into his pockets, shrugging his shoulders as if it was nothing. "I was the one that led every team to victory. Since the Warblers haven't won Sectionals in a while, I decided to come here and whip these lazy bums into shape. Actually, it didn't take a lot of convincing for the dean to let me come here. I did have perfect grades after all."

"That sounds pretty impressive." Rachel politely said, but Hunter upraised his eyebrow towards the brunette.

"Yes, it is." Hunter paced around Rachel and Kurt, continuing to wonder what he should do. "Now, what I am going to do with you two? I can't have you going back to the director of New Directions and giving away what we're going to perform."

"But we saw nothing." Kurt tried to convince Hunter, but Hunter kept his eyes locked on Rachel.

"You know, I do have a way that you guys could get out of here without facing criminal charges." Hunter walked closer to Rachel, releasing a smirk "You go on a date with me. I haven't been on one in so long and you seem like the perfect girl to just sit and…talk."

"I'm pretty sure talking isn't the only thing on your mind." Rachel turned defensive. "I won't do it."

"Fine, then I guess I'm going to have to call the police in here and have you arrested for sneaking into a Dalton Warbler meeting." Hunter slowly turned around, heading to the phone.

"She'll do it." Kurt blurted out, causing Rachel to turn her head towards her friend.

"I'll what?"

"She'll what?"

"She'll do it." Kurt repeated. "You get one date with Rachel to talk to her and…whatever. But after that, you have to leave us alone." Hunter considered the proposition from Kurt before releasing a smug smile.

"Then it's settled. Meet me tonight at the Lima Coffee Bean." Hunter fixated his gaze to Rachel, noticing that she was a little unsure about all of this. "7 p.m. Wear something…appealing." With that, Hunter exited the room while Rachel stared in shock. She was going on a date with Hunter Clarington the Third. She was going on a date with Hunter Clarington the Third tonight. She was going on a date with Hunter Clarington the Third tonight while dating Finn!

* * *

"Why did you volunteer me for a date?!" Rachel shouted to Kurt as they descended the staircase leading to the entrance of Dalton.

"It was either that or going to jail." Kurt turned around to face his friend. "Besides, you need to get back into the dating game. Ever since you broke up with Finn, you've been all too yourself, focusing on school work and although I question the reason that you came back to Lima, I have to admit that you going on a date with Hunter could be just the ticket for you to get out of your dating funk."

"Kurt, he blackmailed me into a date." Rachel protested. "I don't think I'm interested in going on a date with him. In fact, I don't want to go. And why are you pushing me so hard just to get a date? I'm perfectly happy right now."

"Because I figured this would be a good way for Lima to get a glimpse of the New York Rachel. You usually want to go on a date and parade yourself if a guy shows interest in you." Kurt crossed his arms. "What's the deal this time?"

"The deal this time is that I'm not interested in going on a date with Hunter because he doesn't have good intentions. I'd rather go on a date with someone who knows me and understands what's best for me." Rachel sounded irritated.

"And just who would that be? Finn? Rachel, you and Finn broke up so you need to move on." Kurt followed Rachel to the corner, unaware that Rachel was fuming in anger.

"And what if I said that when Finn was in New York, we got back together?! Hmm?!" Rachel blurted out, raising her arms in the air. "Hmm? What if I said that we made love countlessly since he got back and the reason that I came here to Lima was so I could see him? How about that?!" For a moment, Kurt and Rachel stayed silent, staring at one another as they began to take in what actually happened.

"Wait a minute. You and Finn…got back together…yet…" Kurt tried to piece everything together after a moment. Rachel crossed her arms, nodding her head to her friend. "So why didn't you tell me, Rachel?"

"Because, I didn't want you to feel bad about you not being with Blaine." Rachel answered, shaking her head in confusion. "I just…I didn't want to parade my relationship with Finn around in front of you so that you wouldn't feel jealous or something. I was trying to think about you along with thinking about me." Kurt continued to process everything Rachel had just said, but then noticed her face twisting into anger. "But because of you, now I have to be forced to lie to Finn in order to go on a date with Hunter."

"Because of me?" Kurt pointed to himself, almost unable to contain his surprise. "You were the one that wanted to come here and spy on Hunter and the Warblers."

"I thought they were still run by Sebastian." Rachel defended herself. "And by the way, now I'm in a huge situation here. I have to go. I'm supposed to meet Marley after school." With that, Rachel turned around and started walking back to McKinley, now with more problems on her plate than what she started the day with.

* * *

Rachel walked through the hallways, heading to the choir room in order to see if Finn was there. She had to talk to him, and try to find a way to explain that she was going on a date with a guy that wasn't her boyfriend. As Rachel reached the choir room, she couldn't help but notice Kitty, causing anger and fear in the hallways, especially to the girl that she was supposed to mentor—Marley.

"You might want to put those cookies in your locker, Marley. You could turn into a two ton giant like your mother." Kitty scoffed, while she and her fellow Cheerios (minus Brittany) walked down the hallway. Rachel didn't know if she should confront Kitty, but when she noticed Marley wiping a tear from her eye, Rachel knew that she had to comfort Marley. She'd find a way to worry about Kitty later.

"Marley?" Rachel made her way to the sophomore, noticing that she was trying to wipe away her tears. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Marley tried to assure Rachel, however, Rachel knew more than enough to know that Marley was hurting due to Kitty's comments.

"Let me guess, Kitty's mean isn't she?" Rachel guessed.

"Pretty much. How would you know about that?" Marley closed her locker shaking her head towards Rachel. "I mean, look at you. You're successful, talented, a star. I bet no one ever treated you that way when you were in High School."

"Did you know that I was in High School, I had a rivalry with this girl named Quinn Fabray. We're good friends now, but when I was your age, we hated each other. One of the first mean comments she ever said to me was that I had 'man hands.' And it hurt. It also hurt because we were fighting over Finn."

"How did you cope with Quinn calling you names?" Marley wondered.

"It was simple. You can't let people's words get to you. It's hard, but you have to remember that what people say about you isn't true. If you eat that cookie, you aren't going to gain two tons. All right? And I'm sure your mom is amazing. It shouldn't matter how your mom looks. It should matter what's in here." Rachel pointed to her own heart to make a point. Marley didn't know why, but she suddenly felt more confident. Maybe it had to do with Rachel's words. "Now, eat that cookie and let's go to the auditorium. We have some work to do before Sectionals."

"If you don't mind, can I choose the song?" Marley wondered.

"Of course you can." Rachel smiled as Marley took a bite of the Oreo with a grin. Rachel and Marley headed into the auditorium, with Marley putting a CD into the CD player. A tune that Rachel knew that was all too familiar, blared through the speakers, and a moment later, both Marley and Rachel were surrounded by the music, singing as if nothing bothered them at all.

[Marley]  
You shout it loud,  
But I can't hear a word you say  
I'm talking loud, not saying much  
I'm criticized, but all your bullets ricochet  
You shoot me down, but I get up

[Rachel]  
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose  
Fire away, fire away  
Ricochet, you take your aim  
Fire away, fire away

[Rachel and Marley]  
You shoot me down  
But I won't fall  
I am Titanium  
You shoot me down  
But I won't fall  
I am Titanium

[Marley]  
Stone hard, machine gun

[Rachel]  
Fired at the one who run

[Marley and Rachel]  
Stone hard, as bulletproof glass

You shoot me down  
But I won't fall  
I am Titanium  
You shoot me down  
But I won't fall  
I am Titanium  
You shoot me down  
But I won't fall  
I am Titanium  
You shoot me down  
But I won't fall  
I am Titanium

I am Titanium

As soon as the music finished playing, Marley looked as if she was empowered by Rachel's pep talk. Rachel however was having more doubts than before. How was she supposed to tell Finn that she was going on a date with Hunter? She was going to need some major advice for this one. And when it came to advice like this, there were two names that came to Rachel's mind: Quinn and Santana.

* * *

_Song Featured: Titanium by David Guetta feat. Sia (Sung by Marley Rose and Rachel Berry)_


	16. Santana & Quinn: A Year Without Rain

**_A/N: _Hello fellow Gleeks! I am back with a brand new chapter! So I hope enjoy! Also did anyone see the Glee episode 'Feud' last night? Simply incredible. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did. (sigh)**

* * *

_Yale University. The best of the best come here and inhabit in their studies. College lets you experiment with different things. It's challenging but I think I somewhat figured out my way around here. I sometimes do miss Lima. McKinley High was where a lot of my drama. I was Captain of the Cheerios, I became a pregnant teenager, I ended up giving her up to Shelby (who's Rachel's mom). I got mono from cheating on Sam with Finn, I lost out prom queen, I was an emotional wreck the beginning of my senior year of High School and I ended up in a car crash that compressed my spine. But high school wasn't all bad. I did become a National Champion with the New Directions and I was able to dance on that National stage. I became great friends with Rachel Berry after we finally understood each other, I got into my dream school and I was able to help Puck graduate High School. So while sitting in this airplane on my way back to Lima, you might be wondering why I'm even bothering going back to small Lima, Ohio. It's because when a friend is in need, you fly down to your hometown in order to give them sound advice—advice that you can't give them on a computer. Plus, Finn called asking for all of New Directions to come to Lima to help his Glee Club win at Sectionals which was at the end of the week…and I had a few things up my sleeve._

* * *

In one of the classrooms in McKinley, Rachel looked out into the seats, noticing the faces that were before her. Santana, Marley, Brittany and Tina sat in the room, gaping over at the former lead of New Directions. Throughout their high school days (minus Marley), Rachel would gather her girls into one of the rooms and talk about girl topics, asking what she should do. The last time she was in this predicament, it was asking about whether she should give herself to Finn. Now she had to ask about what do with Finn and her unplanned date with Hunter Clarington.

"All right, I think we're almost all here." Santana looked around, noticing that no one else was coming in the door.

"Just wait one moment." Rachel put a hand up, not wanting to start the meeting without one other person. As soon as Rachel spoke, Quinn Fabray entered through the door, her cheeks flushed from the sprinting she had done from down the hall. Obviously, whatever had happened to Rachel was important and she had to be here to help. "Quinn!" Rachel ran over, embracing her friend.

"I got here as soon as I could." Quinn looked to Rachel with a smile. "All right, so now that we're all here why don't you start from the beginning and tell us what's going on?"

"Okay, so basically Kurt set me up on a date with Hunter Clarington the Third from the Warblers but the problem is that I'm dating Finn." Rachel explained.

"Then it's simple, you don't go." Santana shrugged her shoulders, not seeing the dilemma.

"He's threatening to call the police and say that Kurt and I broke into Dalton Academy." Rachel finished. Santana's eyes instantaneously broadened, viewing her friend.

"All right, who does Auntie Snixx have to beat up?" Santana stood up from her chair, rolling up her sleeves.

"The last time you went to Dalton was to face Sebastian and you got slushied in the face." Brittany reminded her. "I remember because you said your yellow Spongebob bra was stained red." Santana gave Brittany a look that said that it was too much information, while the other girls simply ignored Santana and Brittany's moment.

"Well you at least have to tell Finn." Quinn tried to reason with Rachel.

"I know, but I'm afraid that he's going to flip out and I can't have him doing that. I just got him back. I don't want to lose him again." Rachel ran her hands through her hair, contemplating over what she should do.

"Please, you really think that Finn is going to understand? Like this is some PBS Kids special where we all tell the truth and everything will be okay?" A voice said from the corner of the room. Everyone turned their heads to find Kitty, looking at her nails, a smirk curling on her face.

"Wait, how did you get in here…?" Tina turned to Brittany and Marley who were equally in shock.

"I'm telling you, she's a ghost." Brittany concluded.

"Or a witch who used her magical broomstick to get in here." Marley leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms.

"I'm going to ignore that because what you just said wasted air, Marley. And you might want to keep your mouth shut to prevent food from flying into your mouth, making you as fat as your mother and an elephant." Kitty diverted her attention to Rachel, who noticed Marley's face twist in sadness. "Listen sweetie, I'm the queen of relationships and the best way to keep Finn is to not tell him where you're going and who you're with. It will only make him jealous and will only hurt the team's chances of winning Sectionals. So it's best that you keep your secret to yourself, go on this date with Hunter and allow us all the time we need to prepare for sectionals."

"Hold on a minute." Quinn interjected. "That's _terrible_ advice. Rachel should be honest to Finn because if he finds out about it then he'll probably break up with her because she lied."

"And how did that advice work out for you?" Kitty crossed her arms, staring at Quinn.

"My advice would work better than yours. Your advice made Finn walk away from me after he found out my kid wasn't his." Quinn imitated Kitty's stance.

"You had a kid? How scandalous." Kitty purred, turning back to Rachel. "Now, where's what you're going to do. You're going to march over to Finn, say you're hanging out in Lima tonight on your own and have a pity date with Hunter. It's the perfect plan. And if you don't follow the plan then you're setting yourself up for failure. Listen to Kitty Kat here, sweetie. I know what's best for you." With that, Kitty exited the room while the other girls watched in shock.

"Well, that was a round of bad advice." Marley mumbled, obviously still hurt from Kitty's comment. Rachel looked over to the other girls in the room while thinking about what Kitty had said. As cruel and obnoxious Kitty was, maybe she had a point. Maybe it would have been better to keep it from Finn—for now at least. After Sectionals, she could tell Finn with that shiny trophy in his hands. It would have been the perfect scenario. That was unfortunately, what Rachel was going to have to do—even though she didn't want to lie to the love of her life.

* * *

Quinn walked along the halls, eyeing the lockers and classrooms in hopes that she was going to find Finn so that she could talk to him about the Rachel predicament. She knew that she wasn't in her place to talk to Finn about Rachel's problem, but maybe Finn could talk to Hunter to get Rachel out of the date. Quinn knocked on the door to the choir room, surprised to see Finn standing there, reading the sheet music that was scattered along the piano. Quinn didn't know whether to go in there and talk to Finn or if she should stay out there, thinking over her choice. Unfortunately, for her, Finn looked up to see her by the doorway.

"Quinn?" Finn blurted out. Quinn walked into the room, interlacing her hands together, while looking to the ground.

"You found me." Quinn looked up with a smile on her face. Quinn wrapped her arms around Finn, embracing him. As she hugged her ex, she continued to think about whether she was going to tell Finn about what was going on with Rachel and Hunter. She figured that he had the right to know, but maybe Rachel was going to tell him.

"So? How's Yale?" Finn let go of the hug, pointing to one of the chairs for Quinn to sit in. Quinn walked over to one of the chairs, eyeing Finn with a smile.

"Yale is…hard." Quinn tried to sum up her school the best way she could. "So, I heard about you and Rachel, Finn."

"Yeah, I can't believe that we're together. I mean, I missed her so much." Finn's smile widened just thinking about Rachel.

"And I'm sure she missed you too." Quinn nodded her head.

"She did." Finn quickly answered, the smile on his face only getting bigger. "I just love her so much Quinn." Finn peered around, hoping that Rachel wasn't going to hear them. "Can I show you something?"

"You want to show me something?" Quinn tilted her head to the side, an inquisitive look appearing on her face. Finn walked over to his jacket that was hanging on the coat rack, going inside one of the pockets, before taking out a velvety box. Quinn gulped, afraid to ask what was running through her mind.

"What's that?" Quinn wondered.

"This, Quinn…is an engagement ring. I figured since the last engagement didn't go so well, I wanted to make it set and stone this time." Finn opened the box to show Quinn the ring. Quinn peered over, seeing a ring that was encrusted with diamonds and 24-karat gold.

"Wow…" Quinn became speechless. "Where did you get the money for the ring? She's going to love it."

"I saved all my money from working at the tire shop in order to get this for her." Finn answered. "I was thinking of proposing to her through music, like Mr. Schue did with Ms. Pillsbury."

"That's a good idea." Quinn agreed. "Do you need help picking the song?"

"I was skimming through a couple of songs, but this needs to be perfect. This is Rachel that we're talking about after all." Finn walked back to the piano, skimming through the music. Quinn couldn't help but feel the least bit jealous of Finn and Rachel. Sure, they had it all. Finn and Rachel were happy together and Quinn—well, she had no one. Quinn decided that she wasn't going to get in the middle of Finn and Rachel's issues and decided that she was going to help Finn give the best proposal that he possibly could.

"Do you mind if I help?" Quinn walked to Finn, giving him a warm smile. Finn reciprocated the smile, glad to have Quinn's help. This had to be just perfect for Rachel. After all, Rachel meant so much to him and he never wanted to lose her again.

* * *

Blaine sat in the McKinley courtyard, eating his snack in what he believed to be utter peace. He needed some time to think about what happened in New York between him, Kurt and that Taylor dude. Blaine wasn't expecting to see a bagged lunch plop across from him, the owner of that bagged lunch being Kurt. Blaine tensed up, but there was nowhere to run and hide from Kurt here. Kurt was going to find him regardless where he went, so Blaine decided to sit there and continue his awkward snack in silence.

"Blaine." Kurt softly spoke his ex's name. Blaine looked down at his plate, trying to avoid eye contact with Kurt. "Blaine, please look at me." Blaine decided to gaze up at Kurt, but as he continued to stare, he realized that he couldn't get the image of him and Taylor kissing.

"I…I have to go." Blaine got up from the table, but Kurt held onto his sleeve, causing Blaine to pause for a second.

"Please, I'm trying to talk to you." Kurt sounded almost desperate.

"Why don't you go back to New York and be with Taylor?" Blaine spat, roughly removing Kurt's hand from his arm. "I can see that I'm second to you. Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

"No…" Kurt shook his head, his face turning firm. "I wanted to tell you what a jerk you're being. Why won't you forgive me!"

"Oh you mean the way you didn't forgive me when I said I was sorry for cheating?" Blaine furrowed his eyebrows, turning his back to his ex. "Karma hurts doesn't it?"

"And I was wrong Blaine, please…" Kurt sighed. Blaine heard the urgency in Kurt's voice but while his heart was telling him to turn around and engulf his ex in a hug, his brain was telling him to continue walking, and that there was nothing for him there. At that moment, Blaine decided to listen to his brain and walked away from Kurt, leaving him in the middle of the courtyard all by himself. Kurt looked down at his lunch, sitting back at the table, deciding to eat what was left of his lunch—or at least attempt to.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Brittany was guided to the auditorium by Santana, wearing a blindfold while trying to figure out where Santana was taking her. "Are you taking me to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?"

"What? No." Santana shook her head. Santana looked to Brittany, took the blindfold off Brittany's face and smiled, but Brittany's face twisted into confusion when she saw Quinn standing on the stage.

"Wait, did you get me Quinn for my birthday?" Brittany turned to Santana once more, causing Santana to roll her eyes.

"Quinn's not your birthday gift…and it's not your birthday." Santana tried her best to be patient with Brittany.

"All right, then what is it?" Brittany raised her eyebrow in misperception.

"We wanted you to sit here because there's something that I have to tell you." Santana sighed. "Look, Brittany. I know that you're mad at me but you need to understand that I need you…I need you so much and I don't ever want to lose you, so before you make a decision or put a label on us, you need to listen to me and what I'm going to tell you because I realized last time, it didn't work out so well…and to get my point across, Quinn is going to help me." Santana walked over to the stage before turning back around towards Brittany, pouring all her emotions into one song. This one song hoping to seal the deal and win Brittany back forever.

[Santana]  
Ooooh, oooh  
Can you feel me  
When I think about you  
With every breath I take  
Every minute  
Don't matter what I do  
My world is an empty place

[Quinn]  
Like I've been wandering the desert  
For a thousand days  
Don't know if it's a mirage  
But I always see your face, baby

[Santana]  
I'm missing you so much  
Can't help it I'm in love  
A day without you is like a year without rain

[Santana & Quinn]  
I need you by my side  
Don't know how I'll survive  
A day without you is like a year without rain

Oooh, oooh

[Santana]  
So let this drought come to an end  
And may this desert flower again  
I'm so glad you found me, stick around me  
Baby, baby, baby, ooooh

[Quinn]  
It's a world of wonder with you in my life  
So hurry baby don't waste no more time  
Cause I need you here and I can't explain

[Santana and Quinn]  
But a day without you is like a year without rain

[Santana]  
I'm missing you so much  
Can't help it I'm in love  
A day without you is like a year without rain  
I need you by my side  
Don't know how I'll survive  
A day without you is like a year without rain

Ooooh, ooooh

Woah, ooooh, woah, woah

Ooooh, ooooh

(Quinn: Woah, woah, woah)

[Santana and Quinn]  
Ahh, ahhh, ahh, ahhh, ahhh, ahhh

As soon as Santana finished singing, Brittany gave her a quizzical look. Santana figured that Brittany was lost again, but when she noticed Brittany letting out a sigh, Santana knew that Brittany understood every word.

"Why did you sing me that?" Brittany stood up from the chair, staring at her ex.

"Because I love you." Santana revealed. Brittany stared at Santana with an innocent look on her face, before walking over to her.

"There's something that I have to tell you." Brittany's tone sounded serious, and un-Brittany like for Brittany.

"What? What's going on?" Santana crossed her arms, wanting to know what it was.

"Well, there's a reason that I can't get back together with you." Brittany looked to the ground, staring up at Santana. "I'm dating Sam." Quinn and Santana's jaws dropped at the news. Brittany was dating Sam? Since when? And why?

"Wait a minute, you're dating Sam? Why? Is he some sort of distraction that someone made up for you and then in the long run you decide we're endgame?" Santana elevated an eyebrow.

"It's just that he makes me feel good…which was something you did…but then you left." Brittany turned on her heels and started to walk out of the auditorium. "And no matter what you do, you can't break us up. Although I probably will break up with him in the future because like you said, we're endgame. I'll always love you Santana, but…I need to be on my own with Sam right now." Brittany closed the auditorium door, leaving Santana and Quinn in shock. She was dating Sam. Sam Evans. Trouty Mouth. How was Santana supposed to compete with Sam? It looked like she was going to have to take things into her own hands—no matter what Brittany thought.

* * *

_Song Featured: A Year Without Rain by Selena Gomez & The Scene (Sung by Santana Lopez and Quinn Fabray)_


	17. Rachel: I Knew You Were Trouble

_**A/N: ****Previously on Glee, Kurt set Rachel up on a date with Hunter which caused her to not tell Finn the truth. Finn told Quinn that he was planning on proposing to Rachel and Quinn was jealous. Brittany revealed to Santana that she was dating Sam, and that came like out of nowhere. It's almost like the writers jumped the shark and made Brittany and Sam suddenly like each other. Kitty gave Rachel bad advice on what to do with her problem and Kurt and Blaine are still mad at each other after Blaine caught Kurt kissing Taylor at Vogue, and that's what you missed on,**_** GLEE! **

**(Yeah, that was my attempt to do an episode voice over. Let me know if you like the voice over and I'll use it in later chapters). **

**Hope you enjoy the chapter. Read. Review. And enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, at all.**

* * *

_Not telling Finn about Hunter is beginning to eat me up inside. But for the best, I decided that I was going to go on the date with Hunter, and keep it from Finn. Is it a good idea? I'm not sure. But if it will keep Finn from being mad at me then I guess I'm all for it. If it's to help the team, then I have to do whatever it takes to please the head of the Warblers. _

* * *

Rachel stared into the mirror wearing her red mini-dress, her black pumps and her ombre hair curled and primped. Tonight was the night that she was supposed to go on Hunter's pity date or else he would make New Direction's life a living hell. The issue was, how was she supposed to get past Finn? She was currently staying in his house while Burt and Carole were in Washington for the weekend, meaning she, Rachel and Kurt had the whole house to themselves. Kurt was currently at the Lima Bean with some of the other New Directions seniors that came home for Sectionals, but Rachel was currently taking one for the team, although she wasn't on the team at all. Finn entered the room, noticing Rachel putting a bit of lip-gloss on her lips, wondering why she was looking so nice—not that he didn't mind.

"Well, well, well." Finn traversed his arms, a grin appearing on his face. "Don't you look beautiful?" Rachel turned around, flashing her boyfriend a smile before turning back to the mirror.

"You think so?" Rachel asked. Finn walked over, embracing his girlfriend while they both stared at their reflections.

"I know so." Finn pressed a kiss on Rachel's cheek, staring at her as if she were the most beautiful girl in the entire world. "So where are you going tonight? I figured since we had the house to ourselves we could watch a movie, cuddle…you know." Finn continued placing kisses along Rachel's cheek. Rachel turned to face him, taking her hands in his.

"Do you think I could tell you something?" Rachel stared into Finn's eyes, hoping that he would understand.

"Let me guess, you want to tell me how awesome I am?" Finn joked, getting a grin from Rachel.

"You are awesome but…there's something that I really do need to tell you." Rachel continued to stare at him.

"All right, what is it?" Rachel tried to think of how she was going to explain to Finn what was going on. After trying to toy around with the idea of telling Finn about Hunter, she released a sigh.

"I just wanted to tell you…that I love you so much." Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn. Finn eyed Rachel with a smile, before pressing a kiss on her nose and giving her a warm smile.

"I love you so much, Rachel." Finn whispered, placing his lips to hers. Rachel broke the kiss after a moment releasing a smile.

"I'll see you later tonight, okay?" Rachel promised.

"All right. Have fun…wherever you're going." Finn chuckled, reluctantly letting go of his girlfriend.

"I'm going to the movies." Rachel felt bad for lying, but as long as she didn't do anything with Hunter, it wasn't cheating. "It's a girl's night."

"All right, have a good time. I'll probably play a video game until you get back or something." Finn started thinking of things that he was going to do while Rachel was gone.

"All right. I love you." Rachel quickly kissed Finn's lips, heading out the door and shutting it almost in one swift motion. Finn turned towards the couch and started to plug in his game console—but little did he know, Rachel was standing on the other side of the door, her arms crossed while she continued to think on whether or not to go on the date. After a moment, she held her purse closely to her and trudged down the street, heading over to Dalton to meet with Hunter.

* * *

When Rachel reached Dalton, she stood awkwardly by the front staircase, wondering where she would find Hunter. After a moment of waiting, she turned her head to find Hunter walking down the steps, a smirk appearing on his face. Rachel clutched onto her purse more tightly, something feeling a bit off about him.

"Well, I didn't know that you were taking this date serious." Hunter crooned.

"Oh, shut up." Rachel snapped. "Can we please get this date over with so I can go home to my boyfriend?"

"Your boyfriend? You mean that loser named Finn?" Hunter crossed his arms, a hollow chuckle emitting from his lips.

"Finn is not a loser." Rachel became defensive. "Now let's get this date over with so I can go home."

"All right, all right. Why don't you follow me and we can head over to get some dinner." Hunter suggested. Rachel rolled her eyes, following Hunter to the restaurant.

* * *

Once Rachel and Hunter reached the restaurant, Rachel had to marvel at where they were. It was one of the fanciest restaurants in Lima. Not even Finn had taken her there before. Rachel and Hunter headed to one of their tables, Hunter pulling the chair out for Rachel to sit. Rachel nodded her head, sitting across from New Direction's enemy, hoping to get on his good side so that she would never have to deal with him again.

"So, what do you think?" Hunter asked. Rachel pursed her lips, not wanting her amazement to be known to Hunter.

"This place better have vegan food." Rachel opened her menu, staring over at the food choices.

"It does. I did my research on you, Rachel Berry. I know that you're special." Hunter sounded intrigued in the young adult sitting before him.

"What do you know about me?" Rachel scoffed. "You don't know anything."

"I do know that you won Nationals as the co-captain to the New Directions. Before your Senior Year, you joined the Celibacy club along with your former enemy, you auditioned for NYADA and got in after everyone vouched for you to get in." Hunter listed many things that he knew about Rachel Berry. "And let me tell you Rachel, you look rather ravishing."

"Well…" Rachel decided to slightly let her guard down towards Hunter, letting a small smile appear on her face. "It's nice that you think that I look ravishing. I did spend four hours in front of the mirror curling and doing my hair." Rachel fluffed her hair for emphasis.

"Make sure that you order something good off the menu, because this food is amazing." Hunter raved. Rachel nodded her head, continuing to stare at the Dalton Warbler. During dinner, Rachel and Hunter got to know each other even more, and she had to admit, she actually was having a good time. Before they had decided to leave however, Hunter called the waiter over, flashed an ID for them and ordered himself a drink. Rachel didn't think that Hunter was old enough to drink, which meant that he had gotten himself a fake ID.

"What are you doing?" Rachel hissed from across the table.

"I decided to order myself a drink. You should try it 'Broadway'. It's fun." Hunter gave a glance to Rachel.

"Did you just call me 'Broadway'?" Rachel incredulously spoke.

"Yes, because you are going to NYADA and you are majoring in Theatre I believe." Hunter said. A moment later, the server came with two bubbling drinks, once for Hunter and the other for Rachel. "Thank you, ma'am." Hunter gave a polite grin as the woman went away. Hunter continued to eye Rachel, seeing that she was skeptical on whether to take the glass or not. "Come on Rachel, you might want to try it. It's fun." Rachel couldn't believe that she was fighting with her conscience over whether or not she should drink the alcohol. Rachel needed a moment. She needed to go to the bathroom to weigh down her options.

"Excuse me, I need to go and powder my nose." Rachel excused herself from the table, heading towards the bathroom. Hunter continued to stare at Rachel until she went in the ladies room, before he took a small flask out of his coat and poured the substance into Rachel's champagne glass. _Perfect…_

* * *

Rachel paced back and forth in the bathroom, wondering if she should even take the drink from Hunter. She wasn't even supposed to be out with Hunter in the first place! She was supposed to be home with Finn, the boy that loved her so much—and she was afraid that her deception would come back to bite her. Rachel looked at herself in the mirror, remembering that she was only on this date for the good of the team. She was going to have to go through with it just so Hunter wouldn't make her life a living hell. Rachel regrouped and headed back out but when she saw Hunter, putting his jacket on, she was a bit muddled.

"I thought we were having that drink." Rachel spoke up, noticing Hunter turning around to give her a smirk.

"Well we are, but the lady was so nice enough to let me take the glass with us…plus I wanted you to drink in the car so that we could talk about things." Hunter held the glass out for Rachel. Rachel thought for a moment, then took the drink and headed outside of the restaurant towards Hunter's car. Rachel got into the passenger's seat and after a moment of staring down at her champagne, she took a sip of it to calm her nerves. Rachel's eyes widened at the alcohol, looking down into the cup and staring back at Hunter. After fixating her gaze to Hunter, Rachel went back to the drink and took another sip from it, and a moment later, the glass was empty. As Hunter started driving, Rachel felt her eyelids droop, she felt her vision blur and the next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness.

* * *

When Rachel came back to reality, she realized that she wasn't in a room that she had seen before. As a matter of fact, it looked more like a hotel room. Rachel placed a hand to her head, her head pounding. As Rachel sat up in the bed, she noticed something was very wrong. Her clothes were strewn all over the floor, looking as if there was a trail from the front door to the bed. She held the blanket closer to her as she tried to reach for her bra while trying to put together everything that had happened during the night before. She remembered that she had spent the night with Hunter at dinner and she somewhat fell asleep in his car. As Rachel continued to process what happened, her mind started to race. Her heart started to pound as she started placing her articles of clothing on.

"Hunter?" Rachel called out, but there was no answer. After Rachel had on her clothing, she got out of the bed, walking over to the bathroom. "Hunter? Where are you?" As Rachel realized that she was all alone, she knew that something had went wrong…and he was a world of trouble.

Once upon a time  
A few mistakes ago  
I was in your sights  
You had me alone  
You found me  
You found me  
You found me, me, me, me, me  
And I guess you didn't care  
And I guess I liked that  
But when I fell hard  
You took a step back  
Without me  
Without me  
Without me, me, me, me, me oh

He was long gone  
When he met me  
And I realize  
The joke is on me

Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in  
So shame on me now  
You flew me to places I've never been  
Till you put me down oh  
I knew you were trouble when you walked in  
So shame on me now  
You flew me to places I've never been  
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground

Oh! Oh! Oh!  
(Trouble, trouble, trouble)  
Oh! Oh! Oh!  
(Trouble, trouble, trouble)

And the saddest fear, comes creeping in  
That you never loved me  
Or her or anyone or anything  
YEAH!

Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in  
So shame on me now  
You flew me to places I've never been  
Till you put me down oh  
I knew you were trouble when you walked in  
So shame on me now  
You flew me to places I've never been  
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground

Oh! Oh! Oh!  
(Trouble, trouble, trouble)  
Oh! Oh! Oh!  
(Trouble, trouble, trouble)

As Rachel stared into the mirror, a thought had daunted upon her. She was drugged. She was in a hotel room and she woke up naked. Hunter really did have his way after all…and that thought crippled Rachel into a state of fear. She didn't know what to do. As Rachel slid to the floor, she realized that she needed some help. She needed Finn.

* * *

Finn headed to the kitchen in order to get breakfast after a long night of waiting for Rachel to come home. The problem was that she never came back from her movie date with the girls. Finn admitted he was beginning to get worried about her. He hoped that she was all right. Just as Finn mulled over Rachel, the phone began to ring, Finn reached over to the phone, picking it up with a tired sigh.

"Hudson-Hummel residence." Finn spoke, but instead of someone speaking, he heard multiple sobs—and he knew who they were coming from. "Rachel? Rach, babe. Where are you? Where have you been? Why are you crying?"

"_Finn…I need help._" Finn could hear Rachel bawling on the other end of the phone line. "_I wasn't honest with you where I went last night._"

"What are you talking about? Where were you, what happened?" Finn's began to worry.

"_Last night, I went on a pity date with Hunter because Kurt set me up._" Rachel continued to sob. Finn's eyes widened at the fact that Rachel went on a date with Hunter Clarington. However, he knew he was going to have to worry about that later.

"Rachel, honey where are you?" Finn headed to the living room to get his shoes on. He had a feeling that he was going to have to go and help her.

"_I'm at a hotel…I don't know which one. I need to go to the hospital Finn._" Rachel continued to cry, something that made Finn's heart break.

"Why do you need to go to the hospital? Babe, what's going on?" Finn struggled to ask, not sure if he wanted to hear what happened next.

"_Hunter drugged my drink…_" Rachel broke down into incoherent words afterwards, causing Finn's eyes to well up with tears, knowing what happened next.

"Rachel…" Finn took a deep breath while tears streamed down his cheeks. "Did Hunter touch you?" When Rachel's sobs turned into bawling, he knew the truth.

"_Finn….I…I think he raped me._"

* * *

_Song Featured: I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift (sung by Rachel Berry)_


	18. Finn: I'll Stand By You

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee: Rachel and Hunter went on a pity date and Rachel didn't exactly tell Finn where she was going thanks to the advice Kitty gave her. Rachel soon finds out that Hunter drugged her drink and may have done more to Rachel than she thought. Finn then finds out about Rachel's secret and Rachel reveals a secret of her own. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for Rachel to listen to Kitty after all. And that's what you missed on,**_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, although I wish I did. I hope you enjoy the unusually long chapter. :)**

* * *

A half hour after the phone call he received from Rachel, Finn decided to drive to the nearest hospital where he urged her to check herself in, reassuring her that he was going to be there. He also needed to have a chat with her and with Kurt about what had went on the night before. When Rachel first told him that she was on a date with Hunter, Finn had to admit that he was fuming. Then as he continued to drive, he realized that she was stuck and that she didn't know what to do. When Finn reached the hospital, he cruised into the parking lot, turned off the engine but refused to take one of his hands off the steering wheel. He gripped it tightly, letting everything that happened go through his mind. After what seemed like a moment, Finn got out of the car and headed into the hospital in order to go and help his girlfriend get through this difficult time.

"Wait a minute. You think that Hunter _raped_ you?" Kurt almost exclaimed, staring over at a quiet Rachel who was laying in one of the hospital beds. After the doctors heard that she was drugged, they decided to keep her in making sure that she was all right. Even if it was a precautionary measure, it was still even more nerve wracking for Rachel.

"Can we not talk about it?" Rachel crossed her arms, almost feeling embarrassed.

"But we have to talk about this, Rachel." Kurt sat in the nearby chair, his eyes still fixated on his friend. "Rachel, Hunter drugged you, took you to a hotel room and you're just going to sit there and say that we're not going to talk about this?"

"Well, this wouldn't have happened if you didn't make me go on that date with him!" Rachel snapped towards him.

"Well, maybe that wouldn't have happened if we didn't break into Dalton in your assistance." Kurt shot back.

"For the ten millionth time, I was trying to talk to _Sebastian_!" Rachel exclaimed, leaning back into the bed. "Oh god…what is Finn going to say?"

"Wait, you told _Finn_?!" Kurt couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I had to tell him, he was the only one that I could call!" Rachel began to feel a lump in her throat, almost certain that she was going to cry. Before anyone could say anything else, Finn entered the room staring at Rachel and Kurt. His heart nearly broke when he saw Rachel in the hospital bed, but he composed himself as he walked over to her bed.

"Rachel, what the hell happened?" Finn stood by the railing, seeing her staring into his brown eyes. After a moment of trying to figure out what to say, Rachel's eyes began to water, causing her to break down and cry. Finn grabbed a nearby chair to sit in it, taking one of Rachel's hands into his. "Hey…" Finn spoke in a softer tone. "It's going to be okay, all right? Just tell me what happened, please?" After what seemed like an eternity, Rachel took a deep breath while the tears went down her cheeks.

"I went to have dinner with Hunter Clarington the Third because he said that he was going to have Kurt and I arrested for trespassing into Dalton." Rachel wiped some of her tears from her face with her free hand.

"Really?" Finn's eyebrows furrowed. "But didn't Santana just waltz in there last year when she went to confront Sebastian?"

"Now that you mention it, I didn't even think about that." Kurt spoke up from the other side of the room. Finn turned his attention to his stepbrother his face twisting into anger.

"How could you set Rachel up on a date?!" Finn yelled at his brother.

"I didn't know you two were dating again!" Kurt answered back.

"It doesn't matter if Rachel and I were dating or not, you can't just set her up on a date with someone you barely knew!" Finn stood up from the chair, his anger becoming more evident. " If I _ever_ find Hunter, no _WHEN_ I find Hunter, I am going to kick his ass!"

"Finn." Rachel croaked out, her crying becoming more evident. Finn turned over to Rachel, the anger quickly disappearing from his face. Finn sat down in the chair once again, staring into Rachel's eyes.

"Rach, why didn't you tell me about Hunter trying to blackmail you and Kurt? I could have helped you."

"I don't know, because I was worried that you were going to break up with me if you did find out the truth." Rachel felt the tears stream down her face while staring at Finn. Finn shook his head, placing one of his hands on Rachel's cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere baby." Finn put a hand in Rachel's hair noticing that she was so upset about everything. "I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry."

"Does it help that Kitty was the one that told Rachel not to say anything?" Kurt spoke up, causing Finn to turn to him. "I found out because Brittany told me."

"I'm so sorry Finn. I'm sorry. I'm so—" Rachel's apologizes became incoherent as she started bawling again, causing Finn to grab her close to him and wrap her into a tight hug.

"Don't be sorry. All right. It's okay. You're going to be okay. Everything's going to be all right." Finn tried to reassure her. Finn held Rachel close to him, trying to soothe her.

"Oh god…Finn…what if I could get pregnant?!" A thought came to Rachel's mind as she stared into his eyes. "I'm not on the pill and…I was drugged and…"

"We're going to take care of that, all right?" Finn promised her. He then looked deeply into her eyes, his face turning serious. "Rachel, you need to call the police and press charges against him. What he did was uncalled for."

"But we don't know if Hunter actually raped her." Kurt spoke up. "I mean, she thinks he did. We don't know for sure."

"You know how on T.V when they give those tests to tell if there was sexual intercourse the night before?" Rachel pointed out softly. "Since I was drugged, they agreed to do a couple of tests to check to see if that was the case."

"All right, and if there is I'm going to beat the crap out of him and then we're calling the police." Finn crossed his arms.

"Finn, you can't get in trouble for me." Rachel shook her head. "I can't let you do that. All right, you risked so much with the Glee Club. I can't have you getting arrested for beating up Hunter."

"Rachel, he abused you in so many ways last night. He drugged your drink, he made sure that you were incoherent and that you were a little puppet in his game. I'm not going to let him hurt the woman I love. You mean the _world_ to me and I'm not going to stop fighting until we get some justice…even if it takes the rest of my life." Finn vowed. Rachel stared at Finn, touched by his words.

"Finn, do you think you can fight for me without beating him up?" Rachel let out a sigh.

"Can I at least punch him in the eye and leave a black and blue?" Finn tried to slightly joke, although he mostly meant it.

"Finn." Rachel pressed. Finn knew that Rachel meant what she said, and he finally ran his hands through his hair.

"All right, all right. I won't get into trouble. I promise." Finn said. Rachel nodded her head, noticing the doctor entering the room in an almost somber matter.

"Rachel, I did the tests that you suggested and…there is something that we have to tell you." The doctor noticed Finn reaching for Rachel's hand as she stared over at the doctor. "I'm afraid that there was…some intercourse last night. We pulled the DNA and…it came back to a man named Hunter Clarington the Third." Finn noticed Rachel's eyes widen in shock, not wanting to believe what she had heard. Her assumptions were right. Hunter _did_ rape her, and then left her in the room for her to try to piece everything together.

"Do you think that she could get pregnant from this?" Finn whispered.

"It's still too early to tell, but if there are any abnormalities with her period then you need to call me and let me know so we could run some pregnancy tests." The doctors said. Rachel felt sick to her stomach, almost as if she was going to throw up. She could be somewhat pregnant because of what Hunter had done? Rachel was no longer scared—she was terrified! "I'll give you a moment to speak to one another." The doctor slowly walked out of the room, causing Rachel, Finn and Kurt to look at one another.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry." Kurt began to feel terribly guilty. Rachel put her hands on her eyes and started sobbing, unsure of what she was going to do. Finn and Kurt couldn't help but feel bad for poor Rachel. Kurt knew that this was somehow his fault and Finn wanted to do everything that he could to help her. But what was he going to do?

* * *

At McKinley High, the news that Rachel had been raped spread throughout the Glee Club and the alumni, causing everyone to become puzzled as to how it had happened. In order to help the Glee Club come together after hearing the news, they decided to take a day off from Glee and discuss everything that Rachel was going through. It was tough for them to hear, but it was tougher on Rachel. Although they may have had different views, Rachel was their friend and they had to do whatever they could to help her.

"You know, I can't believe that this would happen to poor Rachel." Quinn shook her head slowly, folding her hands while staring at them. "What did Rachel do to deserve this?"

"I have to admit, although Berry can be annoying and I may sometimes hate her 90% of the time because she's always so perky and wanting to be a song hog when we were in Glee club, Rachel is also my friend and she didn't deserve what happened to her." Santana shook her head unbelievingly. "Now, if I could suggest that we steal Hunter's clothes, causing him to walk out naked from Dalton, then we take pictures of him and then post it all over the internet, showing what a boy he actually is for doing such a vile disgusting thing, then I would be satisfied."

"No, revenge is never the answer." Quinn shook her head to Santana.

"What do you mean that revenge is never the answer? Rachel's our friend Quinn. We can't just sit here and let that Hunter dude get away with what he did." Santana retorted.

"We're not going to let him get away with what he did." Quinn shook her head. "If I can suggest that we go to the police with this. This is a serious matter, which is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. We have to make sure that he goes to jail for the rest of his life."

"Which is something that's not going to happen because pretty boy has money. Money buys everything." Santana leaned back in her chair.

"But I don't get it. Why Rachel?" Tina shook her head. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense."

"I have to admit that Rachel did get on everyone's nerves from time to time but that doesn't give someone the right to hurt her." Artie added.

"Of course not, so the question is what are we going to do to make sure that Hunter never sees the light of day again?" Santana wondered.

"Do you think Finn knows that Rachel's in the hospital right now?" Marley spoke up from her chair. "I mean, Finn has the right to know."

"But telling Finn would only result in him breaking up with her." Kitty rolled her eyes. Marley had just about enough of Kitty as did everyone else in the room.

"You know Kitty, you're just as much to blame of what happened to Rachel than Hunter is." Marley spoke loudly, causing the cheerleader to turn to her.

"Excuse me? What did you just say?" Kitty shook her head.

"If it wasn't for your stupid advice for her to keep this whole thing from Finn then this wouldn't have happened to her. Finn could have saved her from Hunter! Instead, she was forced to go to a hospital all on her own! She's probably suffering all on her own! Your advice caused trouble and if anyone should be feeling guilty about what happened, it's you!" Marley shouted, putting her hands in her pockets.

"Preach!" Artie raised his hands, showing his support for Marley's words.

"I'm not the one that drugged her. I'm not the one that took advantage of her." Kitty stood up, eyeing Marley.

"But in a way, if Rachel had went straight to Finn then he could have helped her get out of the date and none of this would be an issue." Quinn pointed out. Kitty turned her head to everyone, seeing that they were nodding their heads and agreeing with Marley and Quinn.

"Look, I barely know Rachel. Why would I want something bad to happen to her?" Kitty shook her head.

"You didn't intentionally want to hurt her, Kitty." Marley's voice softened a little bit. "But you did hurt her by telling her to lie to Finn. Now she has to pay for your bad advice."

"It's not just Kitty's fault…" Kurt spoke up from the corner of the room, staring at Marley. "It's mine. I'm the one that volunteered Rachel on a date with Hunter mostly because I thought she was lonely and she needed to get back into the dating game. The last thing I wanted to happen was for her to get hurt. I should have had more common sense." Kurt buried his face in his hands, feeling immense guilt.

"Kurt, it's not your fault that Rachel was hurt by Hunter." Blaine spoke up, looking at him. "You didn't know that Hunter had that in him. As a matter of fact, no one knew that Hunter had that in him."

"All right, we can discuss and pin the blame game on each other but we need to decide what we're going to do about Harry Bucktooth at Dalton, so let's get some ideas around." Santana encouraged.

"We could give him a rock salt slushie, like he did to Blaine." Kurt suggested.

"We could get Finn to beat him up." Artie recommended.

"I could scare him to death with my impressions." Sam proposed.

"Please, your impressions aren't scary, Trouty Mouth." Santana coldly told Sam.

"We could send him on a one way ticket to an animal farm. I read it in a book once." Brittany piped up.

"Guys….we're not doing that." Quinn shook her head. "I think that we just need to go to the police with this. They're the only ones that can help Rachel now."

"Is that what you think Quinn?" A voice spoke from behind them. Everyone in the room turned around, spotting Finn in the doorway with his arms crossed. "You think the police are the only people that are going to help Rachel? We should be the ones to help her. We are her friends after all."

"Finn, I think that you're a little blinded by anger right now." Quinn tried to reason.

"No, I'm not blinded by anger." Finn shook his head, although it was evident that there was anger on his face. "How dare that little punk hurt Rachel? What did she ever do to deserve something as cruel and horrible as that? Huh?! Does anyone have any idea what she's been through! What did she do?!"

"That's just it Finnenstein." Santana sighed. "Rachel didn't do anything to deserve it. Which is why that I suggest we don't get mad and we get even. We beat the living daylights out of him and then we hand him off to the police, saying that you were the one that had saved Rachel's life."

"Trust me, I want to break every bone in that little jerk's body." Finn grimaced. "Which is why I need someone to tell me where he is."

"He should be at Dalton." Kurt sighed. "Probably trying to lead the Warblers to a win at Sectionals."

"Well, he's not going to see Sectionals." Finn turned around, giving his friends a glare. "Because either I'm going to blind both his eyes out or he'll be in jail."

"But if you go and fight him then you're going to be in jail too Finn." Marley spoke up. Finn turned to Marley, letting out a sigh and shaking his head.

"I don't care. Rachel is my entire life. We're Finchel. We're endgame. And I'm going to fight her battles, as long as it takes. If I can't win them, then I might as well help her and if beating Hunter is the way that I can defend Rachel's honor then so be it." Finn walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him while Quinn looked on almost hopeless. She couldn't convince Finn that what he was doing was wrong, but she had to admit it was almost sweet to see Finn fight for Rachel, no matter what.

* * *

Hunter headed down the steps at Dalton, taking in the air that was around him. Now that he had gotten Rachel Berry out of the way, getting to the New Directions was going to be entirely easy. Rachel was the strong point of the new members and without her being herself, he could easily intimidate them—and of course, he also got a little something, something along the way. As Hunter headed down the street towards the corner, he couldn't help but see a figure out in the distance, a figure that he somewhat didn't recognize.

"Hello?" Hunter almost sounded a bit frightened. As the figure came closer, Hunter took a step back. "Who are you?" The figure emerged, revealing it none other than Finn. Finn crossed his arms his eyebrows furrowing, staring at the man that hurt the love of his life.

"I'm your worst nightmare." Finn walked forward, removing the black hood from his head. "You know, I always thought the Warblers were a bunch of studs, always singing about peace and love and…all that jazz. But to find out that you're not like the other Warblers and that you're a pig _sickens_ me. I heard about what you did to Rachel, and I have to say that wasn't cool dude."

"And why do you care about Rachel? You think she's such a stud or something?" Hunter taunted.

"Rachel's my _girlfriend_. She's the love of my life…and to know that you messed with something that was so sacred and so important to me really upsets me." Finn's voice continued to sound eerily calm, starting to walk circles around Hunter. "What you did was wrong. How could you take advantage of such a sweet girl? HOW COULD YOU?!"

"It's simple Finn…" Hunter looked at Finn as he noticed that Finn's eyes were turning red from the tears streaming down his cheek. "She's a sweet girl which makes her so easy to take advantage of. And by the way…if I could I would do it all…over…again."

_WHAM!_

A moment later, Hunter stumbled to the ground, clenching his cheek after noticing that Finn had clocked him in the face. Rage had taken over Finn Hudson, as Finn walked towards Hunter with a menacing grim.

"Would you still take advantage of Rachel?! Because I…won't…let …you." Finn emphasized. "Rachel's _my_ girl, _I'm_ the only one that's allowed to touch her in ways that you can't! And if I EVER catch you near her again I will crack your neck with my bare hands. Is that clear?!" Finn noticed Hunter releasing a cackle, causing him to kick the Warbler in the ribs. Hunter gripped onto his ribs while falling on his side, holding on to his stomach area tightly.

"Please, what are you going to do? You can't go to the police saying that I raped your girlfriend, you have no proof." Hunter continued cackling. Finn felt his anger boil over and he lunged over and grabbed Hunter by the neck, choking him.

"Not yet…but when I do get proof, I will make sure that your ass gets shipped to jail and that you're put in a nice little cell with cellmates that will give you a nice little present. Need some help with figuring out what it is? It rhymes with 'grape'." Finn let go of Hunter's neck, causing the Warbler to fall onto his back, gasping for air as Finn stood up to watch him gasp for air like a fish out of water. "Stay in town Hunter. Because if you don't…I will find you…and you won't like what I'm going to do with you." Finn turned around, heading back out of the alley as Hunter stared over at Finn realizing that he needed to watch his back from now on.

* * *

Rachel sat in the hospital staring over at her hands, feeling a little startled with Finn entered the room. Rachel raised an eyebrow as Finn sat in the nearby seat, giving her a small smile.

"Hey, I figured that you would have been sleeping." Finn soothingly stroked Rachel's hair as she leaned back in her hospital bed.

"I can't sleep. Every time I try to go to sleep, I think of that monster…" Rachel softly said while Finn continued to stare at her. "I can't believe I ever went on a date with him…and I feel so bad for lying to you."

"I don't blame you Rachel. I just want you to know that." Finn continued to spoke in a soothing tone. "Are you okay, honey? I mean, are you really okay?"

"To be honest…no. I'm not fine." Rachel said after a moment of thinking. "I went to shower earlier today and…I kept scrubbing and scrubbing all over me because no matter what I did, I still didn't feel clean. I felt dirty and ugly…I felt like I wasn't myself. He was still there…and…he wouldn't leave. I…" At that moment, Rachel broke down and began to cry, and Finn continued to hold her tightly, not knowing how to make her feel better—until he had an idea.

"Remember when we had to do duets our sophomore year?" Finn wondered. Rachel simply nodded her head as tears continued to fall. "Well, I remember I sang 'I Stand by You' to a sonogram that I thought was my kid at the time. And…this is something that I need to do. I'm going to sing it to you, right here, right now…and no one is going to stop me. Not even you, okay?" Rachel noticed Finn's slightly serious face as she nodded her head. She listened intently as Finn started to sooth her with music, a sight that she loved all too well

Oh,  
Why you look so sad  
Tears are in your eyes  
Come on and come to me now  
Don't be ashamed to cry  
Let me see you through  
Cause I've seen the dark side too

When the night falls on you  
And you don't know what to do  
Nothing you confess  
Could make me love you less

I'll stand by you  
I'll stand by you  
Won't let nobody hurt you  
I'll stand by you  
Even in your darkest hour  
I won't ever desert you  
I'll stand by you

And when  
When the night falls on you baby  
You're feeling all alone  
You won't be on your own

I'll stand by you  
I'll stand by you  
Won't let nobody hurt you  
Take me into your darkest hour  
And I'll never desert you  
I'll stand by you  
I'll stand by you  
I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

As soon as Finn finished singing, he cupped Rachel's cheeks, forcing her to look into his eyes. Rachel's tears were falling from her eyes, continuing to stare at Finn as he let out a smile.

"I love you so much, Rachel. And don't you _ever_ forget that." Finn pressed a kiss on Rachel's lips and Rachel slightly kissed him back for the moment before parting softly.

"I love you too Finn." Rachel then moved over on her hospital bed, patting it when there was just enough for two.

"What if the nurses say something?" Finn wondered.

"I don't care if they say something. _I _want you here next to me." Rachel insisted. After a moment of wondering, Finn climbed into the hospital bed next to Rachel, wrapping his arms around her as she tried to fall asleep. As Finn noticed that Rachel was finally falling asleep, he placed a kiss on her cheek, smiling down at his girlfriend. Once Rachel fell asleep, Finn cuddled close with her and a few moments later, sleep took Finn over as well. Finn and Rachel weren't sure what was going to happen in the future, but right now, they did know that they loved each other, and for the moment that seemed like enough.

* * *

_Song Featured: I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders (Sung by Finn Hudson)_


	19. Rachel & Santana: Beautiful People

_**A/N: Previously on Glee, Finn and Rachel found out that Hunter didn't just have a date with Rachel which frightened her because she was afraid that she could become pregnant after Hunter took advantage of her. The other Glee Club members tried to think of ways to get back at Hunter but Finn thought of the perfect revenge. He beat Hunter up in the alley by Dalton Academy. But now he has to figure out how he's going to get Hunter to confess what he did to Rachel. Oh, and Finn sung Rachel a song that he sung all the way in Season One. Are the writers recycling songs now? Weird. And that's what you missed on,**_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee although I wish I did**

* * *

_For some strange reason, I feel that what happened to Rachel was completely my fault. I was the one who set her up on the date with Hunter. I was the one that should have known better. Instead, I hurt my best friend in ways that were unimaginable. Life was getting too crazy for me….I had to figure out ways to make things right with Rachel. It was the only way that I was going to get rid of the immense amounts of guilt. _

The next morning, Kurt entered the hospital holding a basket with some chocolate, his DVD player and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' He was trying to figure out a way to make Rachel feel better after what happened and if he was going to admit it, he was trying to clear his guilty conscience in ways unimaginable. Kurt was tossing and turning all night, his mind racing over seeing Rachel cry, seeing Finn look so disappointed in him. As Kurt started heading towards the elevator door, he noticed a familiar figure waiting for the elevator. It was Blaine! Kurt remembered that Blaine was still mad at him for kissing Taylor, but Kurt needed someone to talk to right now—plus he wasn't sure if he could face Rachel just yet. Kurt slowly walked over to Blaine, rubbing his arms in hopes that Blaine would turn around and give Kurt a glance.

"Kurt?" Blaine turned his head, doing a double take. "Did you come and visit Rachel too?" There was no animosity in Blaine's voice, meaning that it was probably safe for them to talk.

"Yeah, I came to visit her." Kurt nodded his head, giving Blaine a tired smile. Blaine quickly knew that Kurt wasn't all right, the worry evident in his face.

"Kurt, are you okay?" Blaine wondered. After trying to find some way to convince himself that he was, Kurt broke down and started to cry. Blaine put a hand on Kurt's shoulder, trying to soothe him, as he knew that Rachel being in the hospital was hitting everyone hard. "Kurt, it's going to be okay. Rachel's alive, she's fine and she has us to take care of her." Kurt shook his head, letting out a sigh.

"I don't know Blaine. What did Rachel ever do to deserve this? I mean…she's never done anything to equal this type of punishment." Kurt wiped his eyes. "I also feel like it's my fault that this happened in the first place. I set her up on the date. If I didn't do that, none of this wouldn't have happened.

"Listen to me Kurt." Blaine shook his head, staring into Kurt's eyes. "What happened was _not_ your fault. No one saw it coming, so you need to stop blaming yourself for what happened. Rachel's going to be fine, and we're going to get all of this sorted out. Okay? But…just remember if you ever need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me."

"Every time I tried to talk to you, you always seemed to run away." Kurt rubbed his temples as Blaine placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not running away now. We're standing here, we're talking, and that's how it's going to be from now on. All right? You're my best friend, Kurt and just because we got into a lot of arguments in the past, it doesn't' mean I don't care about you. I guess I was mad because I cared." Kurt and Blaine eyed one another and after a moment later, Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine, engulfing him into a hug. "Now, I think that we should go see Rachel so that Finn can't hog her all to himself. Does that sound good?" Blaine cracked a smile.

"Yeah, that sounds great." Kurt smiled softly back at his ex. As Blaine hit the button for the elevator, Kurt couldn't keep his eyes off him. Blaine was intriguing…and he had to admit that he missed being with him.

* * *

When Blaine and Kurt reached Rachel's room, they noticed her dressed in her regular clothes and Finn sitting in the chair next to her, meaning that Rachel was probably going to go home today. Kurt let out a sigh of relief as he hugged his best friend, clinging onto her for dear life. Rachel hugged Kurt back, burying her face into his shoulder, not wanting Finn to see the pain and the agony that she was going through.

"Are you going home today?" Blaine wondered. Rachel looked up to Blaine and nodded her head slowly, not sure if there was anything else to say.

"Yeah. I'm just going to take her back to my house and then we'll figure out what to do from there." Finn sighed. "So, how's preparing for Sectionals coming along?"

"It's taking a long time." Blaine admitted. "Everyone's mind is stuck on Rachel right now, but we need to get our head in the game."

"Yeah, we do. Mr. Schue wouldn't want to see the Glee Club mope around. I don't think Rachel would even want that." Finn looked over to Rachel, seeing her with her eyes on Blaine.

"They're all talking about me?" Rachel shook her head, her fears becoming more vivid. "What were they saying about me?"

"It was nothing bad." Blaine assured her. "It's just they were thinking about ways that they could get back at Hunter for hurting you."

"Do you know how I want to get back at Hunter?" Rachel spoke up, causing everyone in the room to look at her. "I want him to go to jail for what he did. He violated me. He used me. And he's going to walk free because he gets whatever he wants! I already know him! I know what he's capable of! I already know that nothing is going to happen to him! Nothing! And do you know why?! Because he's Hunter Clarington the Third. His family is loaded! They can buy their problems away! I can't! I'm stuck to remember this horrible memory for the rest of my life and there's _nothing_ that I can do about it! NOTHING!" Rachel felt the tears stream down her face as she vented. Everyone understood that was what Rachel wanted. Unfortunately, they weren't sure that they were going to get that justice for her. Finn got up from the chair to wrap his arms around Rachel, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"It's okay. I'm going to get Hunter to confess." Finn vowed.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Kurt asked. "He's like one step ahead of everyone all the time."

"Well now I'm going to be one step ahead of him." Finn growled slightly.

"Oh, please don't go all _24_, Jack Bauer on us now Finn." Kurt crossed his arms.

"I'm going to be there for Rachel. No matter what. And I'm not going to rest until Hunter is put behind bars for the rest of his life." Finn said. Kurt and Blaine looked to Finn, then back at one another as if they were unsure that this was a good idea. The doctor came in with a piece of paper for Rachel, trying to give her a cheery smile in such a dim situation.

"All right Rachel, here's your next appointment with the doctor. If anything happens before then you can always come in and there's also a psychologist here if you want to talk about what happened." The doctor softly told her. Rachel thought for a moment, taking the paper from the doctor as she stared down at it. Rachel didn't need to go to a psychologist. She didn't want to talk about her problems with anyone.

"Thank you so much." Finn spoke to the doctor. The doctor gave a slight nod before leaving the room to give Rachel some space. Finn looked down to Rachel, a comforting smile appearing on his face. "Ready to go, Rachel?" Rachel thought about it for a moment, and then decided to get up from the bed, holding onto Finn's hand for support. Finn intertwined his fingers with Rachel, staring over into her eyes. "Don't worry. I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise." Rachel continued to stare at Finn, slowly walking out of the door. Kurt and Blaine slowly followed Rachel and Finn, both of them exchanging wary glances to their friend.

* * *

As soon as Rachel and Finn reached Finn's house, he noticed Rachel quickly heading towards the living room to sit down on the couch. Finn's eyebrow twitched for a moment, wondering where she was going. When he reached the living room, he saw Rachel sitting on the couch watching a talk show. A talk show? Rachel Berry watching a talk show? Finn had never seen Rachel do such a thing before, and he was beginning to think that something _was_ wrong with her.

"Rachel? Are you okay?" Finn sat in the seat next to Rachel, eyeing her intently as her eyes were glued to the television.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rachel mumbled.

"Come on, no you're not." Finn sighed. "You're not okay. I've seen you at your happiest and you're not happy."

"Well it's kind of hard to forget what happened!" Rachel snapped, but quickly became apologetic as Finn flinched. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just under a lot of stress right now…and I can't stop getting Hunter and his evil face out of my mind."

"I know, and I know it's going to be hard for a while. But Rachel, you have to talk to me here. I want to be the one to help you, so you have to be open with me." Finn placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder. Rachel stared into Finn's eyes, moving her hair away from her face.

"I want to be open with you Finn, but…it's just it's hard for me to talk about it when it's something I'm trying to forget." Rachel continued to stare at him.

"All right, I won't force you to talk to me. Okay? However, we need to do something in the meantime to get your mind off Hunter. How about you come with me and help me with the Glee Club this afternoon?" Finn suggested.

"What if Hunter and the Warblers show up to McKinley?" Finn heard the fear in Rachel's voice, so he grabbed her hand and continued to stare at her.

"I'll be there and the whole Glee club will be there. Don't worry. I'll be there for you. I won't let him hurt you." Finn swore. For a moment, it seemed that Rachel let out a small grin, meaning that she was willing to go with him to McKinley.

"If you promise that you're going to watch over me." Rachel relented.

"All right then. Why don't you go and get ready and I'll wait for you here, all right?" Finn soothingly said. Rachel got up from the couch to head over to the bedroom while Finn leaned back on the couch, burying his head in his hands. He had to figure out a way to get Hunter to confess, and he needed to buy some time for that to happen.

* * *

Santana entered the auditorium waiting for the other Glee club members to arrive so they could prepare for Sectionals. Sectionals were three days away and Santana wanted to make sure that the kids were in tip-top shape. Santana noticed someone in the distance, staring over at Sam…who was sitting in one of the chairs waiting for Brittany. Every time she heard that Brittany was dating Sam in her mind, she wanted to cringe. What did Sam have that she didn't? Sure, Santana was a girl but she couldn't believe that Brittany was giving up on them just so that she could be with Sam. Santana crossed her arms, walking slowly over to Sam in order to confront him about being with Brittany.

"All right, Trouty Mouth. What are you planning to do with Brittany? Huh?" Santana sat down in the chair next to Sam, almost in a rage.

"What are you talking about Santana?" Sam didn't understand where Santana was going with this.

"I'm talking about you being with Brittany. What the hell is that about? Are you planning on using her because I will go all Lima Heights Adjacent on you!" Santana threatened.

"No, it's not like that at all Santana." Sam tried to reassure her. "I like Brittany and Brittany likes me. It's plain and simple as that."

"For how long did she like you? Three seconds?" Santana scoffed.

"No…" Sam continued to stare at Santana, unsure of why she was so angry. "I don't get it. You're the one that broke up with Brittany. Why are you going crazy about this?! If anyone should be angry, it should be Brittany. I'm just trying to help her love again."

"She'll never love you or your stupid impressions. She'll always have a spot for me." Santana started seething.

"If she did…why didn't she choose you? It's because you're not worthy of her time anymore." Sam stated. "I'm the one that's in her life now. Not you…so you need to back off and let us be together, because I'm not having you break us up."

"I won't stop fighting for Brittany." Santana vowed.

"Well then…you're going to be fighting forever because I'm not giving her up. Not for anyone and especially not for you." Sam got up from his chair, walking out of the auditorium while Santana stat there as if she was shot in the heart. Santana got up from the chair and rushed out of the auditorium, not wanting to show her true emotions to the empty auditorium.

* * *

When the Glee Club all gathered (minus Sam and Santana), Finn stood in front of them on the stage, hoping that they were ready to get their final list for sectionals ready. It was in a couple of days and it was one of the many things that Finn had to do before the team had to face the Warblers. Finn cringed at the thought of facing the Warblers since Hunter was on the team, but he put it all to the side for the moment when he realized he had to get to teaching.

"All right, now that we have almost everyone here, let's go over the game plan for Sectionals." Finn paced back and forth. "Now, I was thinking maybe that we could do a group number that's like fun, getting the crowd off their feet. You know."

"You mean you want us to act like fools on stage? No thanks." Kitty rolled her eyes at Finn's request.

"Come on guys, I need you guys to really think this through. Sectionals are in two days and we need to beat…the Warblers." Finn tried his best not to mention Hunter's name in Rachel's presence.

"You know, I actually have an idea." Marley raised her hand in the air, causing Finn to nod at her. "What if we do a ballad? I mean, it would get the crowd to mellow out and hear the beauty in our voices."

"Ballad number, I like that Marley." Finn wrote on the white board that was right behind him. "All right, so does anyone have a ballad song that they'd like to share with us?" When no one's hand when in the air, Finn knew that everyone was having trouble figuring things out. Finn's eyes scanned to Rachel and that was then he had an idea on how to inspire the Glee Club. "Rach, babe…come up here for a minute." Finn motioned. Everyone turned to Rachel, and even Rachel was a little interested in what Finn was doing. Rachel quickly nodded her head; going up to the stage and seeing Finn set a chair for her to sit down on. "Rachel was the queen of ballads when we did them during choir competitions. I figured it would have been a good idea for her to show us what she's got."

"You want me to sing in front of everyone?" Rachel turned to Finn. Finn had to admit that he was a little shocked that Rachel was actually worried to sing in front of everyone. She usually jumped at the chance to sing.

"Please? It would give everyone an idea for Sectionals." Finn pleaded. Rachel looked into her boyfriend's eyes before letting out a sigh.

"All right. I did have something planned just in case." Finn placed a kiss on Rachel's cheek, showing how grateful he was.

"All right, whenever you're ready Rachel." Finn stepped away from her as she looked over at the other Glee Club members. She knew the perfect song that she was going to sing. Everywhere she looked, she could have sworn she saw Hunter. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Hunter. Hunter haunted her and it was beginning to drive her crazy. Little did Rachel know, Santana had the exact same song in mind as she played the piano in the vacant choir room, thinking over everything that was going on between Brittany and Sam.

[Rachel]  
It's my last big breath  
What you want me do  
When you act all cool  
Like you already knew  
That I'd be stuck here cold  
Just waiting it through  
Till your heart starts beating  
For that somebody new  
You know that it's true

Because it's beautiful people like you  
Who get whatever they want  
And it's beautiful people like you  
Who suck the life right out of my heart  
And it's beautiful people like you  
Who make me cry  
Cause nobody else can be nearly as cruel as you

_[Santana]  
It's a wicked game that you're making me play  
Where I crawl back home as you're walking away  
And it's all quite clear what you want me to say  
But you'll be so long gone (_Rachel: If I ask you to stay)  
_You know that it's true_

[Rachel & _Santana_]  
Because it's beautiful people like you  
Who get whatever they want  
And it's beautiful people like you  
Who suck the life right out of my heart  
And it's beautiful people like you  
Who make me cry  
Cause nobody else can be nearly as cruel as you

As you!

[Rachel]  
It's my last big breath  
What you want me to do  
When you act all cool  
Like you already knew

[Rachel & _Santana_]  
Because it's beautiful people like you (Rachel: Like you!)  
Who get whatever they want  
And it's beautiful people like you (Rachel: Like you!)  
Who suck the life right out of my heart  
And it's beautiful people like you  
Who make me cry  
Cause nobody else can be nearly as cruel as you

[Rachel]  
Cause nobody else can be nearly as cruel as you  
As you

As Rachel finished singing, it became clear to everyone in the room that Rachel wasn't over her ordeal. As a matter of fact, Rachel seemed even more shaken up after singing than before she got on the stage. As Rachel stared wide-eyed at the other Glee members, she could have sworn that she had saw Hunter from the corner of her eye, causing her to whip her head to the other side of the stage. Rachel's breathing became ragged as she tried to back away from the other end of the stage. Finn ran over to Rachel, quickly pulling her into a comforting hug. Rachel continued to stare at the end of the stage as Finn stroked her hair softly.

"It's okay. Everything's going to be okay." Finn spoke softly into her ear as Rachel continued to stare over at the other end of the stage. "Come on…" Finn led her off the stage and out of the auditorium, and as he looked back at the other Glee Club members, it became evident that Rachel needed help…and that Finn needed his parents for this one.

* * *

_Song Featured: Beautiful People by Cher Lloyd feat. Carolina Liar (Sung by Rachel Berry and Santana Lopez)_


	20. GNO (Girls Night Out): Hot N' Cold

**A/N: _Previously on Glee, Santana confronted Sam about him dating Brittany and Sam kind of was being rude to Santana saying that Brittany was his. Harsh. Blaine and Kurt spoke to one another and Blaine revealed that he and Kurt were friends. Finn tried to teach the Glee Club about ballads during Glee Club rehearsal but when he wanted Rachel to sing one, she thought about Hunter which caused her to have an emotional breakdown and left Finn realizing he needed to do something about Hunter. When will Hunter get out of everyone's lives already? He's ruining everything. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. But I wish I did.**

* * *

"What did you say?" Rachel's eyes widened. Rachel and Finn were currently in Finn's kitchen as Finn was whipping up some dinner (to the best of his ability).

"I said you need a girls' night out." Finn repeated to her. "I mean, you've been so on edge lately and it's not every day that Quinn and Santana are in Lima with you. You guys should do something together."

"I don't know, Finn." Rachel looked down to the table, trying to avoid eye contact with him. "I don't know if I can do that. I mean…what if Hunter comes out of the shadows and tries to hurt me and you are there?"

"Did you forget that Santana was going to be there?" Finn questioned. "She's going to be there protecting you…and while you and the girls go out, I'm going to head to the new spy store that's down the street and try to get some equipment to get that monster to confess what he did."

"Kurt's right…you really are turning into Jack Bauer from _24_." Rachel wrinkled her nose, looking into Finn's eyes.

"Well, he wasn't going to do it, so somebody has to." Finn joked to her. Once he noticed Rachel's face turning serious, Finn walked over to her, placing his hands in hers. "Look, I meant what I said that I was going to figure this out and I was going to get him to confess. I…I just don't want you to live the rest of your life in fear, Rachel. I want you to go out there and have a good time with your friends. That's what an eighteen-year old is supposed to be doing. Having fun. I know that I don't know what you went through and I know it was tough, but you have to trust me that everything's going to be okay." Finn pulled Rachel slightly to sit her in his lap as he stared into her eyes. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise. And I will promise you that I'm not going to do anything stupid out there. Okay?" Rachel leaned her forehead on Finn's, staring in his brown eyes.

"All right…but you can't get hurt." Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn's neck, keeping her eyes locked on his.

"I won't. Now, why don't you get ready for your girls night? They'll be here any minute." Finn let out a smile.

"You told them to come over here before telling me?" Rachel exclaimed.

"Well, it was the only way I was going to get you out of the house. I don't think I can deal with anymore marathons of _General Hospital_." Finn cracked a smile, hoping that Rachel would do the same. To please Finn, Rachel gave the smallest smile possible, causing his smile to widen. "Oh come on Rachel, I know you can smile bigger than that." Rachel gave Finn a fake wider smile but Finn wasn't satisfied. Finn's smile turned mischievous, when he got the idea to start tickling her. However, once he tried to tickle her, Rachel smacked him on his hand, jumping out of his lap with a frightful look on her face. "What? What did I do?!" Finn noticed Rachel wrapping her arms around her body as if she was insecure, in which Finn knew what was the matter. "Crap. Rachel, I'm sorry. Come here baby. It's okay." Rachel slowly walked back to Finn as he wrapped his arms around her, giving her a smile. "I'm not going to hurt you. All right. I was just trying to tickle you because I wanted you to smile. I haven't seen your real beautiful smile in a couple of days and I just miss it." Rachel's heart melted slightly hearing Finn's words as she put her cheek to his head.

"Oh Finn, I'm sorry. I'm still a little jumpy I guess." Rachel shrugged her shoulders but Finn only held her tighter.

"I know baby, I know. I'm sorry. But could you just smile one real smile for me? It would make me feel better before you head off with the girls." Finn wiggled his eyebrows, which caused Rachel to release a smile, a genuine one as she laughed at her boyfriend's antics.

"Stop that." Rachel playfully hit him in the shoulder. She then took both his hands into hers as she kissed them both, gaping into Finn's eyes as she settled herself back into his lap. "I'm just kissing your hands because I felt bad for hitting them."

"Aww, aren't you a sweetheart." Finn chuckled then puckered his lips as he leaned in for a kiss. Rachel pressed her lips to Finn's, forgetting for a moment what had her in such a defensive state. Finn and Rachel's kiss soon turned into a full make-out session, which went noticed by Kurt as he came into the kitchen.

"Please keep this PG." Kurt opened the fridge, getting a drink while Rachel and Finn kept kissing. Finn and Rachel removed their lips from one another's, giving each other a genuine smile. "So I heard you set Rachel up for a girl's night with Quinn, Santana and Brittany. Is that true?"

"Yep. She needs to get out of the house?" Finn smiled, then nodded over to his step-brother. "Did you want to go too?"

"Wish I could but I was going to hang out with Blaine at the Lima Bean." Kurt shrugged his shoulders letting out a smile.

"You and Blaine? What happened?!" Finn's eyes widened at his brother's plans.

"We just said that we would get coffee and then we'd talk things through. So, let Rachel have her girl's night while I go hang out with Blaine. But what are you going to do?" Kurt pointed.

"I have a couple of things that I'm going to do." Finn smirked. "One of them is preparing the kids for Sectionals." Finn left out the part where he was going to take care of Hunter by getting him to confess, just so Rachel wouldn't turn jittery again.

"Well, that sounds promising." Kurt closed the fridge, heading out the door. "See you two later tonight."

"Have fun Kurt." Finn nodded as Rachel stared out the doorway entrance. "As for you little lady…" Finn pressed his lips to Rachel's once more, causing her to relax and make the kiss more passionate. Finn and Rachel were interrupted once again when the doorbell rung, meaning that Finn and Rachel's fun was over for now. "So Rachel…it looks like you're leaving me for a couple of hours. And I'm going to miss you."

"And I'm going to miss you…but don't worry." Rachel slowly stood up from Finn's lap, seductively walking out of the room. "I just might have a surprise for you when I get home…" As Rachel left the room to get herself ready for the girls date, Finn's smile turned into a goofy grin. But he had to admit that although Rachel was acting more spontaneous, he was worried that there was a motive behind it. Maybe Rachel was trying to forget Hunter by trying to get Finn in bed. Finn crossed his arms and his smile went away, as he continued to think. He had better head to spy store as soon as Rachel left. There was a lot of work he had to do to make sure that Hunter was arrested for what he had done to Rachel.

* * *

"All right, I don't get it. Where are we going?" Santana, Quinn and Brittany were dragging Rachel to who-knows-where, which had Rachel peaking in interest.

"You'll find out when we get there." Quinn told her friend.

"And if you keep asking then we'll take even longer to get there." Santana added. Rachel kept her mouth shut and turned to look at Brittany. Brittany simply responded with a shrug of her shoulders, apparently not knowing where Santana and Quinn were dragging her. When the girls reached a restaurant looking building, Rachel peered inside seeing there was a karaoke bar. It reminded her of the bar she had taken Finn to when he went to New York for the glorious week off.

"Wow, this is incredible." Rachel entered inside the restaurant, a smile appearing on her face. "Man, if Kurt, Blaine and Finn had come here, they would have loved it."

"Yeah probably, but Kurt would probably hog the karaoke machine in order to sing everything out of the _Phantom of The Opera_._" _Santana figured. "And that wouldn't be something that I would want to do for two hours of my evening."

"Okay Santana." Quinn got Santana to finish her ranting as they entered the restaurant. Rachel, Quinn, Santana and Brittany sat in one of the booths, looking over the menu for the evening. As Rachel continued to peer at the menu, she felt a bit uncomfortable. She was in the same position when she was with Hunter at the restaurant the other night, but she had to remember that Quinn, Brittany and Santana were her friends. They would never hurt her. Rachel continued to process that thought as she looked through the menu, but when she looked up, she realized the server was waiting for her to order.

"We all ordered already Rachel." Brittany pointed out.

"So what are you having?" The server rudely added. Brittany, Santana and Quinn became shocked at the server and they had to admit that they weren't amused.

"How about you give Rachel five minutes to order and in the meantime you go and get our orders." Santana spoke with an attitude. "This is me being nice. You don't want to see how I get when I'm angry. Now chop, chop." Santana clapped her hands for emphasis while the server made her way back to the kitchen in order to give the cooks their order. "Rachel, are you okay?" Santana wondered.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rachel said, although she wasn't entirely sure that she was. Rachel continued to skim through the menu and after what felt to her as an eternity, she finally made her choice. As the four girls waited for their food to come, Rachel couldn't help but take in the surroundings of the bar. It was one of the nicest bars she had been to, but she had to admit that she missed Finn. He would have enjoyed himself here and she might have felt safer with him here. The other girls noticed Rachel in her daze and they had to admit that they were a bit worried about her. There had to be a way to snap Rachel out of her funk. Santana looked over to the karaoke bar and noticed two people singing an off-key version of "Don't Stop Believing". Santana turned to the other girls, pointing to the jukebox, which gave Quinn and Brittany the same idea that Santana was thinking.

"Hey Rachel, why don't we sing while we wait for our food?" Brittany suggested. Rachel looked up to her friends and back at the karaoke section, wondering if she should go up there. After a moment, Rachel shook her head fiddling with the napkin that was in front of her.

"I don't think so. I just came to try to get my mind off everything. I don't think singing is going to help." Rachel objected.

"Well, I think it's going to help you, so let's go." Santana motioned for Rachel to get out of the booth.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Rachel sighed. Quinn, Santana and Brittany looked at one another then back at Rachel shaking their heads.

"No, not really." Quinn smiled, pulling Rachel out of the boot. The four girls went on the stage while Santana put a dollar in the karaoke jukebox to pick a song.

"I know just the perfect song that we could sing." Santana smiled. Rachel awkwardly stared at her microphone, then to her friends while the familiar tune came blaring through the speakers. As Rachel felt the music go around the bar, she began to loosen up and for the first time in a long time, she felt free and let out a huge smile.

[Santana]  
You change your mind  
Like a girl changes clothes  
Yeah you PMS like a bitch  
I would know  
You always think  
Always speak cryptically  
I should know  
That you're no good for me

[Santana with Rachel, Brittany and Quinn]  
Cause your hot then your cold  
You're yes then you're no  
You're in then you're out  
You're up then your down  
You're wrong when it's right  
It's black and it's white  
We fight we break up  
We kiss we make up

[Brittany and Quinn]  
You

[Santana and Rachel]  
You don't really wanna stay no, but

[Brittany and Quinn]  
You

[Santana and Rachel]  
You don't really wanna go, oh

[Santana with Rachel, Brittany and Quinn]  
Cause you're hot then you're cold  
You're yes then you're no  
You're in then you're out  
You're up then you're down

[Rachel]  
Someone! Call a doctor  
Got a case of love bi-polar

[Rachel and Brittany]  
Stuck on a rollercoaster  
Can't get off this ride!

[Quinn]  
You change your mind  
Like a girl changes clothes

[Rachel and Santana with Brittany and Quinn]  
Cause you're hot then you're cold  
You're yes then you're no  
You're in then you're out  
You're up then you're down  
You're wrong when it's right  
It's black and it's white  
We fight we break up  
We kiss we make up

[Brittany and Quinn]  
You

[Rachel and Santana]  
You don't really wanna stay, no but

[Brittany and Quinn]  
You

[Rachel and Santana]  
You don't really wanna go, oh

[Rachel and Santana with Brittany and Quinn]  
Cause you're hot then you're cold  
You're yes then you're no  
You're in then you're out  
You're up then you're down, down

As soon as the girls finished singing, the entire bar gave them a standing ovation and Rachel had to admit, in that moment she was feeling good about it. Maybe Finn was right. Maybe a girl's night out with singing and eating was just what Rachel needed. The other girls bumped their fists together, seeing that Rachel was acting like her old self, staring at the crowd with a gigantic smile on her face. At least, she was acting like her old self—for now.

* * *

Just outside the bar, someone was watching the girls from inside, but the person had their eyes on Rachel. They couldn't help but feel empowered by staring at her, but the person that was staring wasn't alone. Apparently he had brought his own backup with him.

"I don't know if we should be doing this Hunter." One of the Warblers mentioned from the car. "You already hurt her once and right now she seems pretty happy. Why are you intent on trying to make her life a living hell?" Hunter turned his head to the Warbler, revealing a gigantic purple bruise right under his eye from where Finn punched him.

"It's because of that stupid boyfriend she has that's why." Hunter seethed. "He punched me in the face!"

"Well to be fair, you did rape his girlfriend." The second Warbler spoke from the backseat.

"She knew it was coming." Hunter continued to look inside the bar, his eyes pierced on Rachel.

"But why did you do it?" The first Warbler said. "I mean, you knew Finn was going to come after you."

"Well, could you blame me? Rachel is smoking hot…and of course Finn couldn't keep her all to himself, now could he?" Hunter gave a menacing chuckle, turning his head back into the bar. The other two Warblers eyed one another with a worried gaze but Hunter's eyes were once again fixated on Rachel. "Soon I'll have her all to myself and she'll be giving me my…_desires_."

* * *

After a long evening with the girls, Rachel entered Finn's home using the spare key that she got from him a week earlier. Although she had a lot of fun, she just missed being with Finn in the comfort of his home, cuddling with him and just talking about their day with one another. Rachel closed the door, finding Finn inside the living room watching a movie that looked to be from the eighties. Finn turned his head to find a smiling Rachel entering the living room before she sat on his lap and gave him a kiss.

"Why hello there, beautiful." Finn chuckled, pressing his thumb on Rachel's cheek as she continued to grin widely. "How was your night with the girls?"

"It was magical. I had a great time." Rachel continued to press kisses on Finn's cheek before nuzzling her nose into his neck. "Thank you for making me go out tonight. I love you so much." Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's cheek as she intertwined her hand with his. "But I did miss you tonight. You know…I'm glad that the girl's night is over…because now it's Finchel time." Rachel pressed her lips to Finn's and before they knew it, they were in a heavy make-out session that was soon probably going to escalate. Before it went any further, the doorbell rang, causing Rachel to remove her lips from Finn's while he continued to look at the door.

"Um, why don't you go upstairs and I'll meet you there." Finn suggested, sounding slightly out of breath. Rachel unwillingly got off Finn's lap, blowing him a kiss before heading up the stairs to wait for her loving boyfriend. Finn made sure the door closed behind Rachel before he ran over to get the door. As the door opened, Finn began to look desperate, staring at the two Warblers that were with Hunter earlier in the evening. "So did you get anything good?" Finn hoped. One of the Warblers took out a small disc, handing it over to Finn with a nod.

"Hunter's confession's on there." The first Warbler said. "It's a good thing you called us Finn. We don't tolerate people like Hunter in our school." Finn ran over to the nearby computer, plugging in the CD and listening to everything Hunter was saying. The whole confession made Finn sick to his stomach, but the more he listened, the more relieved he felt, knowing that Hunter wasn't going to get away with what he did. Finn took the disc out, staring over at the two Warblers before thinking aloud with Hunter in his mind and animosity in his voice.

"I got you now, you son of a bitch."

* * *

_Song Featured: Hot N' Cold by Katy Perry (Sung by Santana Lopez, Rachel Berry, Brittany Pierce and Quinn Fabray)_


	21. SECTIONALS

**_A/N: Previously on Glee, Finn made Rachel go on a girls night out with Quinn, Santana and Brittany and it was safe to say that she had a lot of fun but she didn't realize that Hunter and some Warblers were spying on Rachel. But little did Hunter know that the Warblers were working for Finn who got the evidence that Finn needed to press charges on Hunter. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Glee. **

**Note: This is the chapter that I was the most excited to write. Sectionals. But the story is far from over. We have until Nationals to finish the story! So read and please review what you liked about the chapter, if you liked the songs and if you have any song ideas for future chapters, don't be afraid to write them and I might use it in a future chapter. Here's "Sectionals". :)**

* * *

Sectionals. That one word made Finn almost want to stay in bed the next morning. The New Directions had to be perfect. There was no other way around it. Finn heard the door open to his room as he put the covers over his head. He clearly didn't want to be woken up this morning. Finn felt the blankets shred off him as he turned his head to see an angry Rachel with a CD in her hand. Finn took a moment to comprehend everything until he realized that he left the CD downstairs in the kitchen.

"Finn, what the hell is this?" Rachel held the CD up. Finn looked to his girlfriend, seeing that she wasn't amused whatsoever.

"Remember when I told you last night that I was going to get proof on Hunter?" Finn started, seeing Rachel turning angrier by the minute. "I hired two of the Warblers to follow him and to coax a confession out of him." Rachel put the CD in front of Finn, crossing her arms with a huff. "Rachel, you knew that I was going to go after Hunter, so why are you getting so mad?" Rachel snapped out of her anger for a moment, realizing that Finn was right. Finn did tell her that he was going to get Hunter to confess. Maybe it was her hormones? Rachel let out a sigh, sitting on the bed while staring at Finn.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm getting so angry." Rachel sighed, running her hands through her hair.

"Because it's all right to get angry, Rachel." Finn assured her, sitting up to pull her into a hug. "It's okay. You've been through a lot."

"I know, but I don't know why I got mad at you." Rachel admitted. Rachel leaned into Finn and nuzzled her nose with his. "I'm sorry, love."

"It's okay." Finn said, biting his lower lip. Rachel noticed Finn's insecurity and held her hand in his. "Sorry, I'm just really nervous about Sectionals today. I mean, this is the first time I've ever done Sectionals before as the coach and I want to do a good job."

"Finn, those kids love you…and you've done a great job with New Directions." Rachel said. Finn turned his head to Rachel, raising an eyebrow towards her.

"Well, I have to say that you've done a great job with Marley." Finn complimented. "Before you came along, she was so shy. Then you somehow broke her out of her shell and she actually stood up to Kitty. It was incredible."

"She did?" Rachel sounded a bit shocked.

"She did. You know, that's the thing I love about you. You have a pure heart of gold, Rachel Berry. You believe in everyone so much, but sometimes you have trouble believing in yourself. I mean believing in other people is easy, but you have to believe that you're going to be okay and you're going to come out stronger from this." Finn soothingly told her. Hearing that believing in others was a trait Finn loved meant a lot to Rachel.

"Well, I still believe in you." Rachel smiled. "And I know you're going to do great at Sectionals today." Rachel stood up from the bed, holding her hand out for Finn to take. "But we'll never know how good you're going to do if you just sit there." Finn chuckled, taking Rachel's hand in his as she pulled him up. Finn looked down at Rachel, grabbing her hand as they exited Finn's bedroom to head downstairs to start their day. Once Rachel and Finn reached the kitchen, they noticed Kurt but the thing that had them widening their eyes was Blaine in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee with Kurt.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Finn sat down at the table, eyeing Blaine and Kurt.

"I invited Blaine to spend the night and then we woke up this morning and I gave him coffee. It's not a big deal." Kurt shrugged it off, continuing to eat his breakfast in peace.

"All right then." Finn backed off his stepbrother for a moment until Kurt's face twisted into interest.

"When do mom and dad get home from their trip from Washington?" Kurt asked.

"Well, they said they'd be here in time to watch Sectionals." Finn answered, pouring sugar in his coffee while Rachel and Blaine looked at one another.

"It sucks that you and Kurt can't sing with us, Rachel." Blaine spoke up. "We'd win again if you hadn't graduated."

"I know." Rachel sighed. "But the only way that I'd be able to perform at Sectionals is if someone got injured and there was no one else to substitute since the Glee Club needs twelve numbers."

"But it will be just as fun to watch Sectionals." Kurt added. "So Finn, did you decide what songs New Directions is going to sing?"

"Thought about it, emailed the entire group and they've been practicing ever since then." Finn turned to Blaine, giving him a look to keep the set-list a secret.

"Can't tell you either, Kurt. Finn has us on lockdown." Blaine sympathetically told Kurt.

"Yeah, I haven't even told Rachel the set-list." Finn pointed to Rachel who was busy looking down in her coffee cup. "Which means I pretty much did a great job at keeping it quiet."

"As long as it's not _Gangnam Style_ then I'm all for it." Kurt said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"It's not, I can tell you that much." Finn said.

"Oh, Rachel there was an email from NYADA. The school's open again on Monday." Kurt informed his friend.

"A week has almost gone by already?" Rachel looked up, getting Kurt's attention.

"Yeah, funny how things fly by when all you've been doing since you got here was sleep with Finn." Kurt attempted to make a joke, but Rachel's face expression seemed a bit hurt. Sure, she and Finn slept with one another the night before but that was the first time the whole week. She had—other things on her mind that were preoccupying her.

"Well, let's go. We have to be at the school by nine." Finn stood up from his chair, seeing that Rachel was still looking out into space. "Rach, are you okay?"

"Hmm…yeah, I'm fine." Rachel stood up and walked out of the room, deciding to get ready for the day.

"Did I say something?" Kurt wondered. Finn and Blaine looked to Kurt, unsure of what went on themselves. Finn would have to deal with it later. Right now, he had sectionals to worry about.

* * *

As the crowd began to line up outside McKinley High, Finn's nervousness returned. Seeing all the parents, staff, teachers and members of the community come in; Finn clutched the steering wheel in his car. Rachel looked over at Finn's nervousness, putting her hand on his shoulder to comfort him although it wasn't doing any good.

"Finn, are you okay?" Rachel wondered. Finn turned to Rachel, shaking his head as he began to take breaths of nervousness.

"I can't do this Rachel. I can't…I'll let them all down." Rachel pressed a kiss on Finn's cheek, assuring him that everything was going to be fine.

"You're not going to let them down, okay?" Rachel smiled at him. "I'll be there with you, watching the New Directions kick butt. Okay?" Finn looked over at Rachel, placing a hand around her.

"All right. I believe you." Finn pressed his lips to Rachel for a quick kiss, but once Finn removed his lips from Rachel's he looked out the car window to see the Warblers leaded by Hunter entering the building. Finn gripped Rachel's hand a little too tightly for her liking but Rachel had a feeling who Finn was looking at to have him in such a panicked state. "I think we should stay in the car for a while longer." Rachel turned her head to see Hunter standing outside of the school. She was tired of being afraid, and she was done being afraid of Hunter.

"No, we're going in the school." Rachel shook her head, giving Finn a hard glare.

"What?" Finn sputtered for a moment. Did Rachel say what he thought she said?

"I said we're going in the school." Rachel said once again, her face turning serious. "I'm tired of hiding from Hunter. It's like you said this morning, I have to believe that everything's going to be okay. And right now, I know I'm going to be fine…you know, once Aunt Flow comes along. Then I know that I'll be fine. But as for right now…I'm going to face my fear, march into that school and let Hunter know that he can't tear me down, no matter what he did to me." Finn incredulously looked at his girlfriend before pressing a kiss on her lips.

"You're so sexy when you're serious." Finn muttered against her lips. Rachel could have stayed in the car forever with Finn but she grabbed her bag, and unlocked the car door, giving Finn a knowing look. Finn nodded his head, getting out of the car with Rachel following. Rachel and Finn reached the front door of McKinley, spotting Hunter nearby with a smirk on his face. If Rachel and New Directions didn't need him, Finn would have jumped Hunter on the spot. Rachel opened the door, allowing Finn to enter the school but she took one look at Hunter, a serious look, meaning that she knew what he did. Finn entered the school, closing the door on Hunter before turning to Rachel who let out a shaky breath. Although she was trying to keep her composure against Hunter, Finn could tell that she was still scared. "Are you okay, Rachel?" Finn wondered. Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn, giving him a scared look.

"Being strong against those who hurt you is harder than I thought." Rachel admitted.

"Remember, you're not alone." Finn reminded her.

"I knew I heard you're voices Rachel and Finn." A voice that was neither one of them spoke up. Rachel and Finn turned their heads to see none other than their mentor and former director of Glee Club, Mr. Schuester standing before them with a smile on his face.

"Oh my gosh, Mr. Schuester?" Rachel's face turned into a smile as she went over to her mentor.

"Mr. Schue, I thought you were still in Washington." Finn exclaimed, surprised to see him there.

"Well, I finished my tenure with the creative arts ribbon panel and just in time for Sectionals too. Although, I am a bit surprised to see you here Rachel?" Mr. Schuester's attention turned to Rachel, interest peaking. "I thought you would have been at NYADA."

"Well, they're having a showcase this week so I came back to Lima to help Finn with the Glee Club." Rachel said. "Kurt is also here as well."

"Oh, that's great because I wanted to talk to him." Mr. Schuester clapped his hands together. Mr. Schuester pat Finn on the back, giving him a smile. "I'll see you later guys. Finn, good luck with Sectionals." Mr. Schuester then headed off to find Kurt while Rachel wiped the smile off her face.

"All right, let's go find the Glee club members and get them in a show circle." Rachel avoided Finn's gaze as she wandered down the hallway to choir room. Finn followed Rachel back, but couldn't help but turn his head back towards the door, the thought of Hunter being in the same school sickening him. Finn headed to the choir room but on his way there, he felt his phone vibrate with Finn knowing who was sending him the text message.

* * *

In the choir room, Rachel entered only to find that there was chaos all around. Everyone was nervous, girls' dresses weren't fitting right and no one had yet to find Tina, who was singing the lead in the solo number. The girls all turned to Rachel, hoping that she would know what to do.

"Rachel, good thing you're here." Marley ran over to Rachel, her eyes evident with fear. "We need your help. We can't find Tina."

"And we need her to go on. There's only eleven of us." Kitty added.

"Also I can't find my other shoe after I was sure I put it in Artie's chair basket. A disaster!" Brittany added. Rachel felt herself becoming a leader in that moment, looking over at her friends.

"All right, we'll find Tina and Brittany; I think your shoe is in the piano. Quinn told me it was making an odd noise." Rachel stood firm. The others started running around, getting ready for Sectionals, but Rachel had to go and find Tina.

"We found Tina." Rachel heard Santana's voice. Rachel spun around, but after seeing Tina limping with Quinn and Santana holding her, Rachel knew that they had a problem. "And something went terribly wrong."

"Tina, what happened?" Rachel walked over to her friend, seeing that Tina was in unbelievable amounts of pain.

"I was running late so I ran to school, but my heel got caught onto something in the school parking lot and I tripped." Tina admitted. "There's no way that I can dance like this."

"But then that means that we'll only have eleven members." Marley ran a hand through her hair.

"And that means that we can't compete. We're going to have to forfeit." Jake added, staring over at Marley with a somber look on his face. Rachel turned back to the other Glee Club members, seeing that they were disappointed that they couldn't compete. Rachel thought for a moment, then turned to Santana who had the show choir book in her hand.

"Santana, is there any rule saying that alumni to the group can't fill in, in the state of an emergency?" Rachel wondered. Santana flipped through the rulebook, reading about eligibility. When Santana reached the page, she started to read intently, turning her head back to Rachel.

"According to the rulebook, alumni cannot compete unless they are short a member and there's no one to fill in on such short notice." Santana skimmed through the book, then looking at Rachel. "So in other words, the person can compete. Did you have something in mind?" Rachel crossed her arms, seeing the extra dress that was in the corner.

"If Tina doesn't mind, I'm going to compete with New Directions." Rachel spun around, staring over at the other alumni. "Finn put too much work into this for them to get disqualified for only having eleven members. I'm going to compete in Tina's place."

"That sounds like a good idea." Tina agreed. Rachel walked over to take the empty dress, feeling lucky that it was just her size.

"Then it's settled. I'm competing." Rachel decided.

"But Rachel, you don't know the set-list." Ryder pointed out.

"What were the three songs that were in the set-list?" Rachel turned to Marley to ask.

"'Blow', 'The Climb' and 'Tonight, Tonight', the Hot Chelle Rae song." Marley listed.

"Marley, we're doing a duet on The Climb." Rachel pointed to her friend.

"You want me to duet with you on 'The Climb'?" Marley sounded almost a little shocked that someone with such a prestigious caliber as Rachel would want her to sing with her.

"Yes, you have a great voice. It's so easy to believe in others, but you have to believe in yourself." Rachel memorized Finn's words and echoed them to Marley. Marley contemplated for a minute before turning to her friends.

"What should I do?" Marley questioned.

"You have to do the duet." Kitty spoke up. Marley raised an eyebrow, wondering why Kitty was being nice all of a sudden. "If we want to win this for Finn then you have to duet with Rachel, Marley. And your voice isn't as hideous as everyone else says." Everyone looked over to Kitty but Marley wasn't sure if she should take Kitty's words as a compliment or a diss.

"We don't have time to argue about this right now." Quinn noticed the lights flickering. "It's show time." Rachel and Marley gave each other a knowing look, knowing that this was their time.

"All right, Rachel go get into your dress. As for the rest of you, get in the show circle." Santana motioned. As Rachel ran to get the dress on, Finn entered the room noticing his team.

"All right, is everyone ready?" Finn wondered. He then noticed that Rachel was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't do the show circle without Rachel. "Where did Rachel go?" Finn asked. The lights flickered once again, and he realized that he couldn't wait for her. "All right, let's go out there…and crush the Warblers!" Everyone put their hands in, then getting out of the circle. It was time for Sectionals. Everyone started to go in the auditorium, but Finn continued to stare out for Rachel. He was beginning to get worried. Where was she?

* * *

Finn sat in the auditorium with the other Glee Club members, noticing that Tina was taping her ankle so that she wouldn't feel pain while on the stage—or so he thought. Finn noticed someone brushing against him, but when he looked up; he noticed it was none other than Hunter giving him a smirk. The other Glee Club members became tense staring over at him, clenching the rails to their seat.

"Whatever are you doing here?" Hunter smirked. Finn felt the urge to jump out of his seat and attack Hunter but he could have gotten New Directions disqualified if he had done so.

"You need to get away from me." Finn whispered harshly.

"It's too bad you don't have any proof for what I did, Finn." Hunter taunted, walking past him.

"Yeah, let's just see how much you know." Finn muttered under his breath, staring over at the stage.

"And now ladies and gentlemen please welcome, the New Directions!" the announcer blared over loudspeaker. The group got up to head over to the stage while Finn sat there for a moment. Whatever was he going to do about New Directions? The lights dimmed down during the first musical number, and all he could do was wonder—why was Tina still sitting in her seat? And where was Rachel?!

[Brittany]

Ha, ha, ha, ha  
Dance

Back door cracked we don't need a key  
We get in for free  
No VIP sleaze  
Drink that kool-aid  
Follow my lead  
Now you're one of us  
You're coming with me

It's time to kill the lights and  
Shut the DJ down

[Marley and Kitty]  
This place about to

[Brittany]  
Tonight were taking over  
No one's getting out

[Marley and Kitty]  
This place about to

[Brittany with Marley and Kitty]  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

[Marley and Kitty]  
This place about to

[Brittany with Marley and Kitty]  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

[Marley and Kitty]  
This place about to

[Brittany with Marley and Kitty]  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

[Marley and Kitty]  
This place about to

[Brittany with Marley and Kitty]  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

[Brittany]  
Go insane  
Go insane  
Throw some glitter  
Make it rain on 'em  
Let me see them hands  
Let me, let me see them hands  
Go insane  
Go insane  
Throw some glitter  
Make it rain on 'em  
Let me see them hands  
Let me, let me see them hands

We're taking over…

Get used to it

THIS PLACE ABOUT TO

[Brittany, Marley and Kitty]  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

[Brittany]  
This place about to

[Brittany, Marley and Kitty]  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

[Brittany]  
This place about to

[Brittany, Marley and Kitty]  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

[Brittany]  
This place about to

[Brittany, Marley and Kitty]  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

[Brittany]  
This place about to

[Brittany, Marley and Kitty]  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow  
Blow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

[Brittany]  
This place about to

As Finn expected, the crowd rose to their feet after Brittany and Kitty ran off stage, leaving Marley standing by herself, getting ready for the second song of the act. Finn still wondered why Tina was still sitting in her seat and he was becoming more worried about where Rachel was. Finn turned around to make sure Hunter was still in his seat, and when he was, he had to wonder where she could have went. Finn had enough of the guessing game and leaned over to Tina's seat.

"Explain two things for me." Finn whispered harshly. "Why are you still in your seat instead of on stage and where the hell is Rachel?"

"All right, the first one, I sprained my ankle trying to run over here." Tina explained. When she continued to look at the stage, she noticed Marley was still up there. "Second of all, the rulebook stated that alumni can participate if it's an emergency measure and since we would have been disqualified, Rachel stepped up and is doing a duet with Marley. Rachel loves you that much, Finn. She's willing to risk doing anything for you…even looking at Hunter on stage for you." Finn felt his heart melt in that moment. Rachel was willing to put the fear of staring into Hunter's eye—for him. That made him feel really special. The lights dimmed for the moment, meaning that Marley and Rachel were going to begin their duet. Finn folded his hands in his lap, a wide grin appearing on his face just thinking about how much Rachel loved him and New Directions.

[Marley]  
I can almost see it  
That dream I'm dreaming but  
There's a voice inside my head saying  
You'll never reach it  
Every step I'm taking  
Every move I make feels  
Lost with no direction  
My faith is shaking

But I

I gotta keep trying  
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always going to be another mountain  
I'm always going to want to make it move  
Always going to be an uphill battle  
And sometimes I'm gonna have to lose  
Ain't about how fast I get there  
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side  
It's the climb

[Rachel]  
The struggles I'm facing  
The chances I'm taking  
Sometimes might knock me down but  
No I'm not breaking  
I may not know it  
But these are the moments that  
I'm going to remember most, yeah  
Just gotta keep going and I

I  
I gotta be strong  
Just keep pushing on, cause

[Rachel and Marley]  
There's always going to be another mountain  
I'm always going to want to make it move  
Always going to be an uphill battle  
And sometimes I'm gonna have to lose  
Ain't about how fast I get there  
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side  
It's the climb

[Rachel]  
Yeah, yeah

[Rachel]  
There's always going to be another mountain

[Marley]  
I'm always going to want to make it move

[Rachel]  
Always going to be an uphill battle

[Marley]  
And sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

[Rachel]  
Ain't about how fast I get there

[Marley]  
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

[Rachel and Marley]  
It's the climb!

[Rachel]  
Oh yeah, yeah

[Rachel and Marley]  
Keep on moving  
Keep climbing  
Keep the faith, baby  
It's all about  
It's all about the climb  
Keep the faith  
Keep your faith  
Oh, woah, oh

As soon as Rachel and Marley finished singing, the audience stood up and there was no way they were going to calm down after that amazing performance. Rachel gazed over to the reserved seats for New Directions where she saw Finn standing up and clapping loudly, giving her a proud smile. Rachel took a deep breath, feeling more invigorated than she had before. Rachel turned her attention to the Warblers section—but noticed that Hunter was missing. Finn noticed Rachel's face turning pale and he turned to where she was facing, only to realize that Hunter was long gone. Finn went backstage as quickly as he could, in hopes of catching Hunter before he somehow got to the stage. Marley and Rachel quickly headed off the stage but as Rachel was following Marley, a hand grabbed her, pulling her away.

"FINN!" Rachel screamed. Marley turned around, noticing that Rachel was being dragged away by a figure who put his hand over her mouth. Marley ran over to where the other New Directions members were, panting heavily.

"Marley?" Jake stood up from his chair, walking over to her. "Marley? What's wrong?"

"Has anyone seen Rachel?!" Finn ran backstage, staring over at the other members of the Glee Club.

"Hunter has her. He grabbed Rachel and dragged her down the hallway." Marley sounded scared as she told Finn everything. Finn's face turned into a scowl, walking towards Marley. "Marley, where is she?!"

"I don't know, but he dragged her out the auditorium. Finn, you have to find her." Marley felt tears go down her cheeks, automatically feeling guilty that she wasn't there to save Rachel.

"Kurt, Santana, come with me and Santana, call the police." Finn tried to think straight. "As for the rest of you, you have to get back on stage or else you'll get disqualified."

"We don't care!" Marley exclaimed.

"Yeah, we don't care if we get disqualified! Rachel's our friend." Artie added, rolling over to Finn.

"Rachel didn't sacrifice everything just for you guys to give up." Finn tried to convince them.

"Ever since she came to McKinley, Rachel has only thought about us." Marley pointed to the group of people around her. "The least that we could do is be there for her. We need to think about her now."

"Where would Hunter take Rachel?" Blaine spoke out, looking over at the others.

"Let's try the choir room and then if not there then the parking lot." Kurt suggested.

"All right." Finn ran over to the auditorium door and kicked it open, his anger becoming evident. "I'm finding my future wife."

* * *

"LET ME GO!" Rachel continued squirming as Hunter dragged her to the parking lot, having difficulty of keeping Rachel from screaming. "FINN! FINN!"

"SHUT UP!" Hunter growled, throwing Rachel to the ground as she hit her head on the concrete. Rachel held on to her head, tears escaping from her eyes as Hunter let out a smirk. "Finn's not going to help you this time. I don't get why you're so hung up on him anyway. He's a loser…but you're smoking hot." Hunter went for the zipper on Rachel's dress as she started screaming.

"NO! FINN, HELP ME! PLEASE!" Rachel cried.

"Finn can't help you, Rachel." Hunter smirked, pinning Rachel down to the ground. The next thing Hunter knew, he felt a force in his back that caused him to fall on his side. Rachel wiped her tears slightly to find that Finn was standing over Hunter, his face twisting in rage.

"Was me kicking your ass the first time not enough for you?!" Finn screamed. Hunter looked up to Finn, a hollow chuckle appearing.

"What are you going to do Finn? You can't do anything to me. I'll just tell the police that you were the one that had attacked me." Hunter let out a cackle. "Who are they going to believe when they see I have the black and blue. You think you're so smart, trying to act like a spy from a television show but you forgot the one piece evidence that can have you hauled off to jail instead of me. My black and blue eye."

"That I gave you for raping my girlfriend." Finn clenched his fists tighter. "You probably won't believe me but I have evidence that you were the one that raped her."

"That's a lie." Hunter huffed, staring at Finn.

"Oh is it?" Finn took a CD from his jacket and went over to his car that was right near them. Finn put the CD in, revealing the truth to everyone. Rachel watched as Finn crossed his arms, a serious look on his face appearing.

"_Well to be fair, you did rape his girlfriend."_

"_She knew it was coming."_

"_But why did you do it? I mean, you knew Finn was going to come after you."_

"_Well, could you blame me? Rachel is smoking hot…and of course Finn couldn't keep her all to himself, now could he? Soon I'll have her all to myself and she'll be giving me my…desires."_

As Rachel and Finn listened to the tape, Hunter realized that the Warblers set him up. Everyone was going to know that he was disgusting pig all because of Finn.

"How did you…why did you…" Hunter stuttered.

"I guess me acting like a spy from a television show really done you in." Finn put the CD back in its case. Finn turned to see Santana and Kurt leading the police over to Rachel, Finn and Hunter. "Game's over Hunter. Have fun in prison." Hunter knew that he was defeated, as the police grabbed him and handcuffed him. Finn ran over to Rachel, trying to help her up. Rachel looked into Finn's eye while Finn observed her bruise on her forehead. "Are you okay?" Finn softly asked her. Rachel put her arms around Finn, sobbing heavily while Finn soothed her. "It's okay. It's okay. It's over." Rachel nuzzled her face in Finn's neck, her sobbing continuing. The police officers walked over to Finn and Rachel, feeling almost sorry for them.

"Ma'am, do you need any medical attention?" The police officer soothingly asked. Finn thought for a moment then nodded his head softly.

"She has a bump on her head from when genius over there knocked her on the ground." Finn glared at Hunter who was being taken to a cop car. "I also have this CD that shows what he did to her."

"And everything on that tape is true." Kurt added. The police officer nodded then got on the radio for an ambulance. The ambulance came soon enough and observed Rachel in the parking lot while Finn stared over at her.

"Finn!" A voice that was all too familiar rang through the parking lot. Finn turned to see his mother Carole and his stepfather Burt coming towards them. Finn thought either he was in trouble or they were worried about him. "Finn, what is going on here?!" Carole put her hand on her hips.

"Yeah, we got a call from Mr. Schuester that you bolted out the building…and what happened to Rachel?!" Burt looked to see Rachel being stitched up on her head. Finn looked to Rachel, then to his parents and did what you didn't expect an eighteen year old teenager to do—go into his mother's arms and cry like a four year old.

"Finn, honey. It's okay…" Carole rubbed Finn's back in a circular motion as he continued to cry. Kurt walked over to his parents, and hugged his father while letting tears fall from his face. "Finn, what exactly happened when we were in Washington?"

"Rach….Ra…Rachel…wa…was…rap…raped…" Finn tried to tell his mother through sobs. Carole and Burt's eyes widened at the news, staring at one another then back at Finn.

"Finn spent almost the whole week trying to find proof on how to send Hunter to jail. He eventually did it, although it probably came at the cost of a Sectionals win for New Directions." Kurt explained as he cleared his throat.

"He did?" Burt and Carole asked in unison.

"We were realizing how Rachel was having a rough time…but it was killing Finn inside." Kurt sighed.

"Yeah, Finn looked like he was about to go nuts on Hunter for dragging Rachel into the parking lot and attempting to rape her again." Santana added, looking over to see Finn still crying like a child.

"Finn." Carole pulled Finn softly away from the hug to have him look his mother in her eyes. "Honey, you should have told us right away. We could have helped you."

"I know." Finn slowly stopped crying, wiping his tears with his hand and staring back at his mother. "I was going to tell you after Sectionals to talk to her because she needs someone like you to talk to but, I guess that went up into smoke. It's just like I feel like I let everyone down."

"Finn, you didn't let anyone down." Carole assured her son. "You tried your hardest to keep Rachel safe, you put that creep behind bars by being smart and your father and I saw some of the show and it was fantastic. Finn, this week you really became a man and I am so proud of you. You are incredible Finn, and don't you ever forget it. All right?" Finn felt someone tap his shoulder and had a feeling who it is. Finn turned around to see Rachel smiling at him. Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn, pressing a kiss on his lips. Although the kiss caught Finn off-guard, Finn quickly responded. Finn parted, putting his forehead's on Rachel's

"Thank you so much, Finn." Rachel whispered. "You're my hero."

"You think so?" Finn sounded a bit shocked that Rachel was calling him her hero.

"Yeah, you saved my life just now…and you fought for me. None of the guys that I dated before ever did that." Finn became uncomfortable when Rachel mentioned her ex-boyfriend's.

"Well, I'm the only one that will walk across the fire for you." Finn quoted one of his favorite lyrics to Rachel.

"Really?" Rachel raised her eyebrow, giving her boyfriend a loving glance.

"I had to do it. I found an opening." Finn slightly joked as Rachel kissed him once more.

"I love you so much, Finn. So much you don't even know." Rachel cupped his face into her hands.

"And I love you, Rachel. In so many ways that you don't even know." Finn smiled as Rachel looked down to her toes.

"As much as this love fest is beautiful, there is a Sectionals Competition that's going on." Santana pointed out.

"Right, I forgot about that. I hope the kids went on. They were so worried about you, Rachel." Finn continued to stare into Rachel's eyes.

"They were? Why?" Rachel wondered.

"Because when you walked into the door this week to help them, you helped them in more ways than imagined. Marley's broken out of her shell, Kitty's not so bad and the team realizes how much they need you." Finn was amazed how Rachel could make so many people so many different emotions and want to better themselves. She even made him want to better himself. That's how remarkable she was.

"Come on, we have to head back inside." Rachel smiled, taking Finn's hand in hers and intertwining them. "Everyone's waiting for us." Finn took that as Rachel's cue as they entered inside the building with a proud Carole and Burt watching them.

* * *

Backstage, the New Directions were one hot mess. They were constantly worrying about if Rachel was okay and if Hunter finally paid for what he did. As New Directions continued to pace back and forth, Brittany looked to see the door to the stage opening, with Rachel and Finn entering the room.

"Rachel!" Brittany screamed, running over to her friend and engulfing her in a hug. Marley soon joined suit as did the rest of the New Directions. Rachel didn't realize that she was this loved by New Directions, and Finn was the one that showed her.

"Are you okay, Rachel?" Marley smiled, relieved that Rachel was fine.

"I'll be okay." Rachel admitted. "Right now, I'm a little shaken up because of what happened and I might need some extensive counseling but other than that, I'm fine."

"Well, we're just glad that you're alive." Marley wrapped Rachel in a hug that was returned. Rachel looked up to Finn then turned back to the other New Direction members.

"Did you guys go on stage yet?" Rachel wondered.

"We were forced to." Kitty said. "Quinn wasn't going to take no for an answer."

"Now all we have to do is wait for the results." Ryder looked over to Jake who looked just as nervous.

"Guys, you're New Directions." Rachel shook her head. "You can do anything. Trust me, I was nervous when I competed but it worked out in the end, right? I mean there is a Nationals Trophy that's just sitting in the choir room."

"Speaking of Nationals…and Regionals…" Marley spoke up, walking over to Rachel. "If we win, will you come back a week before Regionals and coach us?" Rachel noticed everyone nodding their heads in agreement before Rachel let out a smile.

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Rachel smiled. Everyone let out a cheer until the announcer blared that he wanted all contestants on the stage via the loudspeaker. Rachel and Finn eyed one another, becoming nervous.

"Hey, we just have to believe in ourselves, right?" Marley questioned. The others simply nodded their heads, taking Marley's lead and going to the stage. The host looked to the three choir groups that made it into the top three: New Directions, The Warblers and the Golden Goblets.

"Let's announce this year's 2013 Sectionals' Winners." The announcer said. He picked up the third place trophy, looking into his card. "In third place…we have the Golden Goblets!" Everyone cheered as the head of the Golden Goblets took their trophy and headed back to their place with the other members becoming excited. As exciting it was to win third place at Sectionals, the New Directions wanted the main trophy. They wanted to go to Regionals. "And now, to announce the winner of the 2013 Midwestern Sectionals Competition…all the way from…LIMA, OHIO the NEW DIRECTIONS!" The New Directions started jumping up and down in excitement as the man handed them the trophy. Rachel jumped into Finn's arms as he twirled her around in excitement. Rachel kissed Finn's cheek as he put her down and put her lips up to his ear.

"You are getting so lucky, tonight." Rachel whispered in his ear.

"I thought I already was lucky." Finn playfully answered back.

"Oh, shut up." Rachel noticed Finn holding the trophy and lifting it up in the air, for the entire world to see. Many crazy, bad things had happened to Finn this week but the two things that had happened that were good was that he and Rachel were closer than ever and he won Sectionals with New Directions. He truly felt like the luckiest man in the world.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Blow by Ke$ha (Sung by Brittany Pierce with Marley Rose and Kitty Wilde), The Climb by Miley Cyrus (Sung by Rachel Berry and Marley Rose)._


	22. Finchel & Klaine: The Reason

_**A/N: So where's what you missed on Glee. The New Directions had Sectionals and Tina was unable to compete, which allowed Rachel to take her place in order to keep their hopes alive-oh yeah, and for Finn. It ended pretty badly when Hunter kidnapped Rachel for like five seconds and tried to drag her away until Finn swooped in and had him arrested. Oh, and New Directions won Sectionals. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Although I do love that show!**

* * *

Finn stood in the Glee Club room looking intently at the Sectionals trophy that was placed into the trophy case the morning after. Finn felt glad that he was able to help the kids get their trophy but when he realized that Sectionals was a lot of hard work, he figured that he would leave it to Mr. Schuester to coach the team for Regionals. But what was he going to do until Regionals time came around and he would come back to Lima? When he noticed Rachel walking into the Glee room, Finn knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to go to New York, with Rachel. That is, if he wanted her to.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" Finn wondered. Rachel grabbed Finn's hand and nuzzled her nose to his.

"I was looking for you." Rachel replied. "So I heard from the grapevine that you retired from being a Glee Club director?"

"I didn't retire." Finn corrected her. "I took a much deserved break." Finn continued to stare at the trophy, letting out a heavy sigh. "So you're going back to New York tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I am." Rachel nodded her head. "Lima had too much drama for me and it would be nice if I could go back to New York and get some normalcy. I could go back to NYADA and I could practice for the end of the year showcase that's in June, along with booking trips to Lima for Regionals and hopefully Nationals." Rachel then looked down at her hand, fiddling with Finn's fingers. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Well, Mr. Schue knows that if he ever needs someone to take over the Glee Club then I'm available but…in the meantime I was thinking of becoming a teacher." Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"A teacher?" Rachel repeated.

"Yeah, I think that I could be a teacher. I mean, a music teacher." Finn corrected. "Math is too hard and English makes my head hurt." Rachel laughed slightly before nodding her head with a smile.

"I think being a teacher is just up your alley." Rachel agreed. "So where are you going to go to school to get that degree?" Finn didn't know if he could keep what he had a secret from Rachel any longer, so he went into his pocket and handed Rachel a letter. Rachel took the letter from Finn and opened it, seeing that he was accepted to…NYADA! "NYADA? Finn, you got into NYADA?!"

"I know, I was shocked too." Finn shook his head, a smile appearing on his face. "My audition was actually really different. I took a bunch of cups and silverware and started banging on them with a pencil. They think I have potential as a drummer and in the meantime, decided to take up learning other instruments. Puck was actually teaching me how to play the guitar." Rachel marveled at Finn with a huge smile.

"My boyfriend is going to NYADA." Rachel hugged Finn tightly, feeling so much better about having him in the city with her. "I am so proud of you, Finn. This is huge. And just so you know, you won't have to stay in the dorms. You can live with Kurt and me."

"Are you sure?" Finn didn't want to be a burden to Rachel, but she insisted.

"You can live with us. I want you to live with us." Rachel pressed on. Finn let out a smile, pressing a kiss on Rachel's forehead.

"Well in that case, I will accept the offer." Finn nodded. He then let out a sigh; almost seeming unsure of what he was going to do next. "Meet me in the auditorium after school finishes. There's something the Glee Club and I put together for you."

"Okay." Rachel nodded her head, a small smile appearing on her face. "Well, I was supposed to meet Marley for lunch to talk over Regionals already. That girl never gives it a rest. I'll see you after school, okay?" Rachel pressed a kiss on Finn's lips, unwillingly letting go of his hand as she walked out of the choir room. Finn made sure that Rachel had exited towards the courtyard before pulling out the engagement ring he had in his pocket. He had to make sure that he had planned this right, or else this could end in flames.

* * *

Finn entered the teacher's lounge to find Mr. Schuester sitting there drinking his cup of coffee. Finn wrinkled his nose, not understanding how someone could drink coffee out of all drinks possible. Finn walked towards his mentor, taking a seat next to him. Mr. Schuester looked up at Finn, giving him a wide grin.

"Finn, you're just the person I wanted to see." Mr. Schuester said. Finn wondered what he did wrong.

"If it was with the song selections from Sectionals, I'm sorry." Finn immediately apologized. "It's just that Brittany really wanted to do Ke$ha and I originally wanted Tina to do the ballad since she is a senior…" Finn continued rambling on until he noticed Mr. Schuester's hand on his shoulder.

"Finn." The moment Mr. Schuester spoke, Finn stopped his rambling, staring at his former teacher in the eye. "You made me the proudest mentor in the entire world yesterday. That was…that was simply amazing. I loved the fact that Rachel was on that stage again singing with Marley. It was almost as if I wanted Rachel and Marley to bond with one another and you were able to bring them together."

"Actually, Rachel was the one that wanted to mentor Marley." Finn admitted. "She felt that Marley could come out of her shell and it turned out Marley did. Marley was so worried about Rachel with what happened with her and Hunter." Finn then looked down at the table, his heart turning heavy at thinking of all the bad that had happened during the week.

"I heard the entire Glee Club was worried. Rachel has that effect on the Glee Club members." Mr. Schuester reminded him, taking a sip of his coffee. "So are you sure that you don't want to coach them through Regionals? I mean, you did such a great job with them." Finn thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"This Glee Club is your thing, Mr. Schue." Finn told him. "I have to go out there and find my thing. I got into NYADA and I'm going to become a music teacher. Just like you. I'm going to lead my kids to Sectionals and Regionals and if I'm lucky enough, right to Nationals. That's what I want to do with my life. And I also want Rachel to be there by my side when I do make that change. She's meant so much to me. She's meant so much to all of us. She may be ready to say goodbye to McKinley, but I'm not sure it's ready to say goodbye to her."

"And you know what, Finn?" Mr. Schuester let out a wide grin, patting Finn on the shoulder. "You're absolutely right." Finn gave Mr. Schuester an extensive grin then thought for a moment.

"Mr. Schue, would it be okay if I borrow the Glee Club for one last time before you officially take over?" Finn asked. "There's something that I have to do." Mr. Schuester gave a nod of his head to Finn, knowing what Finn was going to do.

"Of course." Mr. Schuester simply said, and that was good enough for Finn at that moment.

* * *

Kurt and Blaine sat with one another in the courtyard, not wanting to bring up the fact that Kurt was going to leave for New York tomorrow. He was going to have to bring it up eventually. Kurt fiddled with his hands for a moment, then eyed Blaine, seeing that he was simply looking out at the courtyard to observe the other kids having lunch.

"Are you okay?" Kurt finally asked. Blaine turned his attention to Kurt, giving him a quick nod of his head.

"Yeah, I was just thinking." Blaine replied.

"Thinking about what?" Kurt immediately asked.

"I was just thinking how the last couple of days with you were wonderful. I mean, sure we only started hanging out again after Rachel went to the hospital, but the last two days were simply wonderful. But now that's all going to go away because you're going back to New York." Blaine said. Kurt realized that the last couple of days meant something to him, and of course they meant something to him as well.

"I had a great time, Blaine. I did. But just because I'm leaving it doesn't mean that this has to be the end." Kurt said, a smile appearing on his face.

"I know it doesn't mean that it's going to be the end." Blaine assured himself. "But I just don't want to lose you again."

"And you won't. I mean you're going to come over for Spring Break in New York, right?" Kurt wondered.

"Are you inviting me to go to New York to spend Spring Break with you guys?" Blaine wondered.

"Yeah, I mean sure. If it will make you feel better, I'll fly out for Regionals right before Spring Break and then we can go to New York together." Kurt suggested. Blaine didn't know what to say, except he engulfed Kurt into a hug.

"That's really nice of you Kurt. Really." Blaine then pretended to think with a smile on his face. "Does that mean we get to sing a Spring Break duet?"

"Well I don't know any songs that have to do with Spring Break but yes, we will duet." Kurt promised. Kurt and Blaine stayed in the hug for another moment longer before Blaine let go of the hug, finding himself looking into Kurt's eyes. Kurt continued to stare into Blaine's eyes, getting the feeling that this was the moment that they were going to kiss. But before anything could happen, Kurt cleared his throat and stood up from the bench. "I have to go and help Finn. He said he had a song that he wanted to do with the Glee club before he handed it over to Mr. Schuester."

"Yeah, I heard about that." Blaine added, feeling a little disappointed that he and Kurt didn't get to kiss. Kurt put a hand on Blaine's shoulder, giving his friend a soft smile.

"See you later." Blaine noticed Kurt heading into the school building, knowing that he had to do something to convince Kurt to get back with him. But what?

* * *

Santana walked along the halls of McKinley High for one last time, heading to the auditorium in order to help Finn with his little surprise for Rachel, but along the way, she spotted Brittany exiting the classroom and in tow was Sam. Santana felt her heart drop, seeing that Brittany was happy with some other person. Santana slightly heard that Sam was going to get Blaine in order to discuss something about prom but before he left, he gave Brittany a soft, sweet and gentle kiss. As soon as Sam parted and started to head down the other end of the hallway, Santana walked up to Brittany, crossing her arms.

"Brittany, what the hell was that?" Santana pointed to her and Sam going down the hallway. "I'm surprised he didn't suck your face off with those salamander lips of his."

"Santana, stop. All right?" Brittany put her hand up, her face seeming serious. "I love Sam and he loves me. I'm sorry but you were the one that broke up with me and now I'm moving on."

"How could you love him?!" Santana began to turn annoyed. "You only liked him for five seconds!"

"Well he does great impressions and you should see his abs. He could work at Abercrombie and Fitch if he wanted to." Brittany shrugged.

"Brittany, love isn't just a physical connection." Santana explained. "If you loved him, you would be able to connect emotionally with him as well. That was something that we had, an emotional and physical connection."

"But we do have an emotional connection. Sam and I, I mean." Brittany said. "He was the first person since you graduated that made me smile. And I love him. And once the world ends for real, I can see being with him."

"So you don't see yourself being with me?" Santana looked down, feeling especially hurt at that moment.

"When were together last year, I did see myself being with you. But you're off doing other things that are not in Lima, and I need someone whose going to be there for me now—and unfortunately Santana, that's not you." Brittany then walked around Santana, heading to the auditorium while Santana's hurt expression stayed on her face. Brittany just explained to Santana that she no longer loved her—and she had to admit that it really stung. Santana headed towards the girls bathroom and once she reached there, she entered one of the bathroom stalls and had a good, long cry.

* * *

Rachel looked around the auditorium, looking for Finn after she got a text from him saying to meet him there. Rachel continued to look around until she noticed Finn standing on the stage wearing a black t-shirt, black pants and black and white converse sneakers. Rachel knew that the Glee Club was going to do a musical number, but why was Finn dressed the same way as them? The kids form Glee eyed Rachel and Finn with a knowing smile but Finn just looked into Rachel's eyes. Seeing how beautiful and how perfect she was at that moment in time.

"You said you wanted to talk to me?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, there was something I wanted to talk to you about." Finn nodded, his hands still stuffed in his pockets. "First off, I realized that I didn't get a chance to thank you for helping me with the Glee Club and Sectionals this week. Especially the part where you were willing to take Tina's place when the kids needed you just so they could compete. I would have to say that if we were in the tenth grade, you probably would have done it just for a chance to shine, but you did this for a completely different reason."

"I didn't just do it for the Glee kids." Rachel admitted. "I also did this for you. You worked so hard with them and I couldn't just let all your hard work go down the toilet. You're right, if we were fifteen and in the Glee Club, I would have done it for the spotlight, but the thing bigger than the spotlight is my love for these kids…and my love for you." Finn was supposed to be the one that was supposed to make Rachel feel loved; instead, she was making him feel like the luckiest man in the world.

"I love you so much, Rachel." Finn came out and said. "And, I was thinking of how many ways I could tell you that I loved you but I realized that the biggest way was how you changed me. If I were fifteen, I would have cared about being popular and going out with the right girl and not even wasting my time with Glee Club. But you showed me how much fun Glee can be. You showed me what love really is. You showed me that after High School, popularity means nothing. There's something I wanted to give you but I needed New Direction's help with it." Finn got off the stage for the moment, taking Rachel by the hand and leading her on the stage to one of the stools. Rachel happily obliged and sat down, while Finn looked at the microphone and turning to Brad the pianist. "Hit it, Brad."

"Hit what?" Brad sounded a bit annoyed. "You Glee kids think I just know what song you want off the top of my head."

"The music I put in front of you earlier." Finn sounded just as annoyed. Brad turned his head to see the music sheet and started to play the song with the band, while Finn kept his eyes locked on Rachel and while New Directions helped Finn sing his heart out.

[Finn]  
I'm not a perfect person  
There's many things I wish I didn't do  
But I continue learning  
I never meant to do those things to you  
And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know

[Finn with New Directions]  
I found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
And the reason is you

[Blaine]  
I'm sorry that I hurt you  
It's something I must live with every day  
And all the pain I put you through  
I wish that I could take it all away  
And be the one who catches all your tears

[Blaine and Finn]  
That's why I need you to hear

[Finn with New Directions]  
I found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
And the reason is you

And the reason is you  
And the reason is you  
And the reason is you  
And the reason is you

[Finn]  
I'm not a perfect person

[Blaine]  
I never meant to do those things to you  
And so I have to say before I go

[Finn]  
But I just want you to know

[Finn with Blaine and New Directions]  
I found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
And the reason is you

[Finn with New Directions]  
I found a reason to show  
A side of me you didn't know  
A reason for all that I do

[Finn]  
And the reason is you

As soon as the song finished, Finn walked over to Rachel while New Directions eyed one another. This was the moment that everyone was waiting for! Finn got down on one knee, staring over at Rachel whose eyes immediately began to water.

"I know that the last time I proposed to you, we were seniors in High School and we weren't quite ready for marriage, but I know in my bones that we're ready this time. Rachel, I've known you for the last four years…and they have been the most incredible years that I've ever spent with you. You're simply amazing, beautiful and you are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Rachel Berry, will you marry me?" Everyone's eyes shifted over to Rachel who started crying as soon as Finn finished his speech. Finn began to mentally curse himself, realizing that maybe Rachel was saying no. But when he saw that Rachel was smiling through her tears, he felt as if he had hope.

"Finn…of course I'll marry you." Rachel said through tears. New Directions started cheering wildly as Finn got up from his position and wrapped Rachel in a kiss. Finn placed the ring on Rachel's left hand as she marveled at the jewelry. "Finn, it's beautiful."

"A beautiful ring for a beautiful girl, like you." Finn simply said before placing his lips on Rachel's once more. Rachel and Finn were going to begin their journey to marriage together in New York. And there was nothing that was going to stop them ever again.

* * *

After saying their goodbyes to New Directions and Mr. Schuester, Rachel, Finn and Kurt made their way back to their apartment in Bushwick. Rachel felt good saying that Finn was going home with her to _their_ apartment, where they would sleep in _their_ bed and cuddle on _their_ couch. Rachel helped Finn bring the only suitcase that he had into the apartment as he looked around the room. The last time he was here, he was Rachel's guest. Now he was Rachel's fiancé, moving in with them and starting school at NYADA. A year ago, Finn wouldn't have thought that he would have been good enough to get into NYADA or that he was good enough for Rachel. Now he was certain that he was good enough for both. After all, NYADA wanted him and Rachel agreed to marry him. Kurt mentioned that he was going to go and get some Chinese food for the three of them, which left Rachel and Finn by themselves for the next thirty minutes.

"Why don't we break in the bed as an engaged couple?" Rachel seductively suggested. Finn's eyes widened as Rachel's lips pressed onto his. Their plans were nixed however when Rachel and Finn heard the doorbell ring. "Oh, Kurt probably left his keys in his other pants again." Rachel walked over and opened the door, only to see that it wasn't Kurt at the door—but Santana…with a suitcase.

"Santana?" Finn stammered before getting her name out.

"Santana, what are you doing here?" Rachel wondered. Santana dragged her suitcase into the little apartment, turning her head towards Finn and Rachel.

"I'm moving in." Santana answered in a matter-of-fact tone. Rachel and Finn gave each other a panicked look before looking back at Santana. Well, it looked like their Spring semester was already off to a bang—literally.

* * *

_Song Featured: The Reason by Hoobastank (Sung by Finn Hudson and Blaine Anderson with New Directions)_


	23. Finn: Bad Day

**_A/N: Previously on Glee, Finn decided that he was going to go to New York after getting an acceptance letter from NYADA and wanted to pursue his dreams in teaching. He also proposed to Rachel who said yes and had Finn move into their apartment. Blaine and Kurt both want to get back together but decide against it when Blaine knew that Kurt was going back to New York. Santana found out that Brittany was in love with Sam and no longer in love with her which forced Santana to move in with Rachel, Finn and Kurt. Sounds like a lot of drama could go down in the house. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, but I wish I did**

* * *

Rachel couldn't believe anything that was happening in that moment. She was staring down at a sleeping Finn, in their New York apartment that they shared with Kurt (and forcefully Santana) and she and her fiancé were starting school at NYADA today for the Spring Semester. Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn who was still in his sleep, pressing kisses on his cheek with a smile. After a few more kisses, Finn's eyes fluttered open to see Rachel staring down at him, a smile appearing on his face. Finn pressed his lips to Rachel's, putting one of his hands behind Rachel's head to make the kiss more passionate. After a moment, Rachel removed her lips from Finn's, putting one of her hands on his cheek.

"Good morning, handsome." Rachel cooed, rubbing his cheek with her thumb.

"Good morning, beautiful." Finn responded. Rachel got off Finn and went over for her bathrobe that was hanging up by her side of the bed, to get ready for the day. "Where are you going?" Finn wondered.

"It's the first day of the spring semester." Rachel reminded him. "Which means you need to get out of bed as well." Finn continued to stare at Rachel, leaning back against the headboard.

"I'm nervous about starting school today." Finn admitted.

"Well, there's nothing to be nervous about." Rachel assured him, rubbing his back slightly. "I'll be there with you. I know you're going to kick some major butt when it comes to your music classes. You are gifted after all."

"I am?" Finn sat up in the bed as Rachel climbed on him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You are. Now get ready for school, okay?" Rachel placed a kiss on Finn's lips, Finn wrapping his arms around Rachel's hips. They were so into their kiss that they didn't realize Kurt opening the door, looking down at his iPhone.

"Rachel, I need you to get some more milk on your way back from…my God!" Kurt looked up as Rachel jumped off Finn and landed on the floor. "I get that you're glad that Finn is here in New York with you, but you both have school which means there's no time for that. Come on, there's breakfast on the table and I suggest you come and eat it before Santana gobbles it all up. You know, I never understood why Santana is even here."

"We'll be out in a minute." Finn sounded a bit annoyed. "But we weren't doing anything."

"Not now, but last night all I heard was screaming and moaning and I don't have a boyfriend here and Santana doesn't have a girlfriend meaning it had to be you two." Kurt turned on his heels, going out the door and slamming it behind him. Rachel looked to Finn, her eyes widening.

"We were that loud?" Rachel whispered.

"No." Finn tried to assure Rachel, getting his robe and placing it on before getting out of bed. "Come on, let's get ready for school."

"We need to soundproof the room." Finn chuckled at Rachel's statement, going to the shower while Rachel rolled her eyes, following her boyfriend.

* * *

Finn marveled at NYADA, how big the building was, how the people that were there were so confident and most of all talented. Finn held on to his backpack strap, staring over at the school while Rachel stood beside him, gripping his hand tightly.

"Nervous?" Rachel asked. Finn looked to Rachel then back to the building.

"Very." Finn admitted. Rachel put one of her hands on Finn's cheek, giving him a warm smile.

"Finn, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine." Rachel assured him. "Let me see the schedule they gave you." Finn went into his backpack and handed Rachel the schedule. Rachel studied it over, then handing it back to Finn. "See, you're going to be fine. The only class that I recommend that you don't slack in is Dance since Cassandra July can be a pain in the behind."

"Cassandra July?" Finn's nervousness became evident.

"Yeah, she's like one dance teacher that you don't want to mess with. Fortunately, you have that class with me so you'll be fine." Rachel smiled.

"But Rachel, I'm a terrible dancer." Finn pointed out.

"Glee club helped you get better with your dancing." Rachel guaranteed him. "You'll be fine."

"I'm not as good as a dancer as you." Finn let out a sigh, but Rachel cupped his face with her hands.

"And I'm not as good as Brittany or Mike. But I lived." Rachel pressed her lips to his then started to head into the building. "You'll be fine. I'll see you at Dance class."

"See you then. I love you." Finn yelled out after Rachel.

"I love you too! Have a good morning!' Rachel shouted, going into the building and leaving Finn on his own for the moment. Finn let out a sigh, going into the building while looking at his schedule to find his first class. Finn's first class of the day was…theatre. That shouldn't be too hard…right?

* * *

Once Finn reached his first class of the day, he noticed that a lot of the kids were already in their own little world—and their own little cliques. _Why couldn't Rachel have this class the same time as me,_ Finn thought to himself. As he started entering the classroom, he noticed the theatre kids staring at him as if he were a foreign figure. Was something wrong with him that they didn't like? Finn shook it off, sitting in one of the seats as he started skimming through the book that was going to be the focus for the semester. Finn noticed that the play was none other than _Les Miserables_. He heard Rachel sing a song or two from the play but he never had actually seen it. As Finn continued to look through the book, he noticed a couple of teenagers coming towards him, showing interest in him.

"Excuse me…" One of the teenagers said to Finn. Finn figured that the kid wanted to be friends with him, so he gave him a wide smile.

"Hey, there. I'm Finn." Finn held out his hand but the theatre kid didn't show interest in him whatsoever.

"Yeah…_Finn_…you're in my seat." The kid pointed. Finn looked incredulously at the kid, shaking his head and getting up from the chair. They were in college and the kid was worried about a _seat_? All right then…

"There dude." Finn moved a couple chairs over but the kids weren't satisfied. "Let me guess, all these chairs in this row are taken?" The kids nodded their heads, crossing their arms and giving Finn a smirk. "Then where the hell am I supposed to sit?"

"In the back with the other kids who aren't qualified for theatre…oh wait, that's just you." The kid and his group of friends started to laugh, causing Finn to feel a little hurt. We're these kids making fun of him because they felt he didn't belong in theatre? Finn reluctantly stood up from his chair and headed to the back of the room, gripping his backpack and book tighter to him as the other theatre kids stared at Finn as if _he_ was weirdo. Some of the kids were wearing Peter Pan pants, feathered hats and ruffled shirts for crying out loud. Did they not look in the mirror before they came to class? Finn sat all the way in the back of the classroom, feeling uncomfortable as the students continued to gawk at him. Luckily for Finn, the theatre teacher entered the classroom which made the students take their seats.

"All right students, welcome to the Spring Semester of Theatre and I see that we have some new faces in this classroom." The teacher kept her eyes on Finn.

"Yeah, just that kid who's dressed like a football player over there." The theatre kid said aloud which made the other kids in the classroom laugh. Finn blushed, clearly feeling embarrassed but the teacher ignored him.

"Now, let's just start by assigning roles for the Spring Musical _Les Miserables._" The teacher clapped her hands. Finn's eyes widened as he stared down at the book.

"Wait, excuse me…" Finn raised his hand slightly, which earned assorted snickers throughout the room. "We have to perform his at the end of the semester?"

"That's right." The teacher said, giving Finn a serious look. "Now, we're going to audition for the roles tomorrow and then we'll start working on our lines by next week. So choose who you're going to audition for and try to wow me tomorrow." The teacher clapped her hands. Finn looked down at the book, gripping onto it as tightly as he could. "Now, I want you to take the rest of the hour to read the book and find a character that you connect with."

"Do we have to write a report on it?" Finn asked aloud which made the class burst out into fits of laughter. Finn didn't understand what was going on here. He wasn't trying to be funny, but everything in the classroom seemed like a gigantic joke to everyone.

"No…but did you want to write one?" The teacher quipped which had the students 'oohing' Finn. Finn was beginning to get annoyed now. Was everyone here acting as if they were in high school? It was college! As soon as Finn's first class ended, he exited out the front door, looking down at his schedule to see that he had…Vocal Training? Finn didn't think that he needed Vocal Training, but if that was the class they wanted him to take then so be it. Finn started to head down the hallway, but when he turned the corner…

_WHAM!_

Finn was hit with the sticky coolness of a slushie. Finn tried to wipe the slushie out of his eye to see who dared to throw a slushie at him. When Finn finally was able to clear his eye, he saw that it was the theatre kids that were in his class. Finn grumbled under his breath as the kids started to run away, going down the nearest staircase. Finn headed into one of the bathrooms in order to wipe himself from the slushie mess, just so he could go to his next class without looking completely out there. He was already considered a freak and only an hour and a half went by. He couldn't wait to get to Dance Class. At least he knew that Rachel wans't going to treat him like a freak.

* * *

Rachel had the free period before dance class so she decided to warm up her body to prepare for the long and vigorous class. She also wanted a chance to show to Finn just how good of a dancer she was. Rachel held onto the bar, doing stretches, not knowing that she was being watched by someone other than her fiancé. Rachel turned around to see the young adult enter the room in a leotard, clearly looking as if he wanted to stretch before the class began. Rachel started to stare at him, noticing that he was in his own little world, but she was soon going to be caught looking when he turned around and spotted Rachel. Rachel immediately lost eye contract with him, but the guy simply chuckled, walking over to the bar.

"It's okay, I don't bite." The guy gave an amused smile to Rachel. "I couldn't help but notice that you were looking at me?" Rachel looked up to look him in the eye, trying to figure out what to say.

"Yeah, I was just staring at the way that you were stretching." Rachel lied. "You weren't exactly doing it right."

"So there's a proper way to stretch now?" The guy chuckled. "Well, I took ballet for about ten years so I should know just how to stretch. But in the midst of this conversation, I never got your name. And I guess, you never got mine. My name's Brody." Brody held his hand out for Rachel to shake.

"I'm Rachel." Rachel shook his hand then went back to practicing on the bar.

"So, where are you from?" Brody wondered.

"I'm from Lima, Ohio." Rachel let out a friendly smile as she continued to stretch. "You know, I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"As a matter of fact, I am new." Brody said, nodding his head. "I didn't have enough money to enter the fall semester but I was able to get in for the spring. Exciting, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't call it spring just yet." Rachel looked out the window to see the snow on the ground. "It's the middle of January and it's cold."

"Well, it's still Spring in NYADA's mind, which is good enough for me." Brody continued to stare at Rachel, finding himself attracted to her. "So I know this is going to sound a bit crazy, but I think we should hang out sometime." Rachel knew where this was going.

"Um, I'm kind of engaged to get married." Rachel sheepishly told him.

"Kind of?" Brody did a split on the floor, something that surprised Rachel. "You either are or you're not."

"All right." Rachel took a deep breath, while still trying to comprehend how Brody did that split. "I am. I'm engaged."

"So who's the lucky fellow? He has to be lucky since you are adorable." Brody complimented her. Rachel felt her cheeks turn red, but not because she liked Brody's compliment, but because she was embarrassed.

"His name's Finn." Rachel smiled thinking about her fiancé. "He actually goes to this school and just like you he started today. He wants to teach music."

"So he wants to be a teacher? Well, what do you want to do?" Rachel felt as if Brody was taking more of an interest in her, which was beginning to creep her out.

"Well, I want to be on Broadway, win multiple Tony Awards and have an iconic place at Sardi's like my idols Patti Lupone and Barbara Streissand." Rachel thought about her dreams, realizing that they were big.

"Well you are a dreamer." Brody smiled. Rachel continued to stare at Brody but her interest was soon transferred to Finn who entered the room looking as if he had the roughest day in the world. Luckily for him, this was his last class of the day.

"Hi baby." Rachel walked over to give Finn a kiss. Finn accepted the kiss but he wasn't in much of a mood for anything, something that Rachel noticed. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Wait a minute, this is Finn?" Brody pointed towards Finn before emitting a laugh. Rachel spun towards Brody, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Is something funny, because I don't see it?" Rachel shook her head. Brody continued to laugh until he composed himself.

"He was in my vocal training class. The teacher said that he has a voice that was a mix between a nail on a chalkboard and a tone deaf girl who thinks she can sing." Brody then couldn't help himself and started laughing again. Finn turned around and headed out the door, something that caught Rachel's eye. Rachel didn't seem to think that Brody was all that nice, especially since he was making fun of Finn. Rachel followed Finn into one of the empty classrooms, seeing that he was looking out the window feeling miserable.

"I don't belong here." Finn muttered, sounding deflated. Rachel walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Finn, you had one bad day. Things will get better." Rachel tried to comfort him.

"Rachel, I was slushied after coming out of theatre class for looking different. The teacher thought that my voice sounded different. And now I bet that Cassandra July is going to step all over my dancing because I know that it's different!" Finn shouted, sounding more frustrated than before.

"And is being different a bad thing?" Rachel wondered, raising an eyebrow towards him. "Finn, have you seen one girl that looks like me or sings like me? No, because I'm different."

"You're _special_." Finn quickly said before becoming upset again. "I'm just…different."

"So? I love different. I love your voice, I love your acting and I love the way you dance." Rachel walked closer to Finn, snaking her arms around his neck. "Who cares what everyone else things. If I love those things about you, isn't that enough?" Finn looked over at Rachel who had a point. As long as she was the only one that loved those things about Finn, then why did he care what others thought?

"You're right, I was just having a bad day." Finn pressed his forehead to Rachel's, nuzzling his nose to hers. "The only opinion that matters is yours."

"And that's how it should be; just liked your opinion is the only one that matters to me." Rachel smiled to her fiancé, pressing a kiss on his nose. "We still have ten minutes until we have to go to Dance class and there's a piano. Do you want to sing me a song?" Finn led Rachel over the piano, sitting her down and thinking for a moment.

"And I know the perfect song that I'm going to sing." Finn agreed. He started to play a few keys on the piano, staring over at Rachel as he started to sing.

[Finn]  
Where is the moment when you need it the most  
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost  
Tell me your blue skies fade to grey  
Tell me your passions gone away  
And I don't need no carrying on

[Finn and Rachel]  
You stand in the line just to hit a new low  
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go  
And tell me your life's been way off line  
You're falling to pieces every time  
And I don't need no carrying on

[Finn with Rachel]  
Cause you had a bad day  
You're taking one down  
You sing a sad song just to turn it around  
You say you don't know  
You tell me don't lie  
You work out a smile and you go for a ride  
You had a bad day  
The camera don't lie  
You're coming back down and you really don't mind  
You had a bad day

[Rachel]  
Sometimes the system goes on a brink  
And the whole thing turns out wrong  
You might not make it back and you know  
That you can be well all that strong  
And I'm not wrong

[Finn]  
So where is the passion when you need it the most

[Finn and Rachel]  
Oh you and I

[Finn]  
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

[Finn and Rachel]  
Cause you had a bad day  
You're taking one down  
You sing a sad song just to turn it around  
You say you don't know  
You tell me don't lie  
You work out a smile and you go for a ride  
You had a bad day  
You see what you like  
And how does it feel one more time  
You had a bad day  
You had a bad day

Oh, you had a bad day

Finn looked over to Rachel, taking his hand in hers as they let out a wide smile. Finn pressed a kiss on her hand as Rachel continued to smile at him. Finn was having a bad day at NYADA…until he ran into Rachel at dance class and she made it all better. Maybe that was one of the main reasons that he was marrying her. Because Rachel knew just how he felt all the time and she experienced almost everything he was going through.

"What did I do to get such an amazing girl like you?" Finn whispered loud enough for both him and Rachel to hear.

"Where did I get such an awesome guy like you?" Rachel leaned in to kiss Finn, in which Finn reciprocated the kiss. He had never felt so much bliss in his entire life—and he wasn't even married yet! "When we get home, I can help you forget all about your bad day." Rachel whispered in Finn's ear after removing her lips from his.

"I think I'd like that." Finn blushed, pressing a kiss on Rachel's cheek. "But right now, we need to go to dance class or else Cassandra July is going to rip me apart on the first day." Rachel laughed, helping Finn up from the piano as they walked over to Cassandra's class.

"Just a warning, if Cassandra calls me Schwimmer, don't go and kill her." Rachel warned him.

"I think I can handle that." Finn nodded his head as they walked over to their dance class. While Finn and Rachel walked into the room, they didn't notice that Brody was watching them, and his eyes were intent on Rachel. There had to be a way to pry Rachel away from Finn and into his arms, but how?

* * *

After class, Finn started putting his dance equipment into his bag when he realized that there was someone that wasn't Rachel standing next to him. Finn looked up to spot Cassandra July, his dance teacher eyeing him while was getting ready to go home. Finn got up from the ground, staring at Cassandra with a confused look.

"So you're Schwimmer's husband to be, huh?" Cassandra crossed her arms staring over at Finn.

"Her name is _Rachel_ and yeah. I'm her fiancé." Finn sounded a bit cross.

"I was just wondering. I also want to know how you exactly got into this school because your dancing was one of the worst that I've ever seen and I thought Schwimmer's was bad." Cassandra sneered.

"Her name is_ Rachel_ and my dancing isn't that bad. As long as Rachel likes my dancing, I don't care what you think." Finn grabbed his bag, heading out the door but fell short when Cassandra started following him.

"Snarky attitude…I like it." Cassandra sounded almost as if she was interested in Finn! Finn turned around, giving Cassandra a hard glare, knowing the game that Cassandra was playing.

"I'm taken Cassandra. I don't want to be your little sex buddy." Finn rolled his eyes before leaving the classroom. "See you on Thursday." Finn walked to the front of the building to find Rachel sitting down on the front steps waiting for Finn. "Hey babe." Finn helped Rachel get up from the steps, as she couldn't help but giggle at him.

"Someone looks like they're in a better mood." Rachel smiled.

"Because of you I am." Finn started to pull Rachel away from the school but Rachel was almost a little skeptical about where they were going.

"Where are we going?" Rachel laughed.

"We're going to beat Kurt and Santana home and have the apartment to ourselves!" Finn sounded almost too eager. Rachel couldn't help but laugh along with him as they ran all the way home to put a perfect end to Finn's first day at NYADA.

* * *

_Song Featured: Bad Day by Daniel Powter (Sung by Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry)_


	24. Finchel: Be Your Everything

**_A/N: Previously on Glee, Finn began his first day at NYADA but found the kids to be mean. They were wearing Peter Pan clothing and they threw a slushie in his face. Rachel met Brody for the first time who clearly has a crush on Rachel but Rachel is in love with Finn. Finn and Cassandra July met for the first time and Finn didn't like that she kept calling Rachel 'Schwimmer'. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, although I wish I did.**

* * *

Brody entered the NYADA dance classroom, looking around to see if Cassandra was in there. He had gotten a text from her in order to meet her there regarding something about one of the students. Although Brody had only been at the school for a couple of days, he had known Cassandra since the fall when he met her at one of the bars and got to know one another. Brody leaned against the wall, spotting Cassandra in the corner as she practiced her foxtrot.

"You came." Cassandra softly said, Brody walking more forward towards her.

"Did you think I wasn't going to show up?" Brody crossed his arms, letting out a grin. "I know something's bothering you about that Finn kid."

"I just want to know how he got into this school. There's no talent in that kid." Cassandra grumbled. "Plus he's a smart aleck. He had the nerve to think that I wanted him. He wasn't wrong, but he thought that."

"Plus I don't get how that kid got such a gorgeous girl like Rachel Berry." Brody let out a dreamy smile just thinking about Rachel.

"Schwimmer? You think Schwimmer's _hot_?" Cassandra scoffed, then flipped her hair back. "I think that I'm better looking than her."

"You have blonde hair but _Rachel…_" Brody continued to stare out dreamily. "Rachel is special. She has this determination, drive and she has a smoking body. I don't know what she sees in Finn. She said she knew him from Lima, Ohio which would make him a Lima Loser."

"So what are you saying?" Cassandra wondered.

"I'm saying that we break up Rachel and Finn so we can each have the other to ourselves." Brody thought. "The more time they spend apart, the more they'll realize that their lives have no need for each other. Plus, I'm better looking than Finn. I'm pretty sure Rachel would be in my arms by the end of the school year."

"And Finn would want to take a ride on the Cassandra Express." Cassandra was beginning to like the idea. "I like it."

"Then it's settled." Brody smirked. "Operation 'Break Up Finchel' is a go."

* * *

In their Bushwick apartment, it was anything but happiness and bliss. Rachel was currently in the bathroom, throwing up her contents from the night before with Finn holding on to her hair while soothingly rubbing her back. Rachel had been feeling a little under the weather since the night before but it didn't take into full effect until the next morning. After Rachel was sure that she had finished throwing up, she went over to the sink to rinse her mouth while Finn flushed the toilet.

"Rachel, are you sure that you're okay?" Finn asked.

"I'm fine. I think I just have a stomach bug, that's all." Rachel weakly answered, grabbing her toothbrush to brush her teeth.

"All right, I'm just saying." Finn said. Rachel turned around with toothpaste in her mouth, raising her eyebrow towards him. Rachel finished brushing her teeth then shut off the water as she stared at Finn once more.

"What do you mean by that?" Rachel put her hands on her hips.

"It's nothing, just nothing." Finn sighed, running a hand through his head. He walked over to Rachel and the next thing she knew, Finn had picked her up and started carrying her bridal style to the living room.

"Finn, put me down." Rachel ordered, feeling nauseous again.

"Not until we get to the sofa so you can watch T.V. You're in no position to even think about going to school today." Finn placed Rachel on the couch as Rachel took a deep breath. After a moment, the nausea subsided leaving Rachel letting out a sigh of relief. Finn turned on the television to a talk show, then handed Rachel the remote. "Here, I don't know what you want to watch but I have to start getting ready for class."

"Are you going to tell me what role you got in _Les Mis_ yet? It's been over a week and you still haven't told me." Rachel began to sound a bit impatient. Finn released a smirk, realizing that he couldn't keep the secret from Rachel any longer.

"All right, if you want to know, I didn't get any part." Finn shrugged.

"What? But everyone is supposed to be a part of the play." Rachel began to feel bad for Finn until he showed her the script.

'I didn't get any part because they made me the director." Finn beamed. Rachel looked down at the paper, skimming through the pages and spotted Finn's name under 'Director'.

"Finn, that's incredible." Rachel smiled.

"Yeah, if I'm going to be a teacher I might as well start by directing the school musical. That way I don't have to sing but I get to show off my talents. Everyone thinks that I don't deserve to be in the school." Finn sounded a bit dejected towards the end but Rachel shook her head.

"And this is the perfect chance to prove everyone wrong. You get to show everyone what a great director you are. Not everyone is great at everything just remember that. I'm so happy for you Finn." Rachel let out a weak smile, her stomach feeling a little queasy.

"Thank you. Now, you stay here and I'll be back after my classes to take care of you, okay?" Finn gave Rachel a smile, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Make sure you fend off that giant shark at dance class." Rachel leaned her head on the sofa while Finn chuckled.

"All right, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for Cassandra." Finn rubbed Rachel's shoulder, a smile becoming apparent on his face. "I love you, okay?"

"I love you too." Rachel sickly answered back. Finn slowly took the script back from Rachel, grabbed his backpack from the table and reluctantly walked out the door leaving Rachel by herself for the afternoon. Rachel figured if she had gotten some sleep then she would feel better by the time Finn got home. Rachel's sleep was interrupted when Santana opened the door and slammed it, being a little too noisy for Rachel's liking. "Santana, can you please keep it down? I'm not feeling well." Rachel said while putting her hand on her forehead.

"Sorry." Santana sighed. Rachel figured something was wrong with Santana. Santana never apologized for anything!

"Santana, are you okay?" Rachel tried to sit up from the sofa to the best of her ability.

"You're the one who's sick and you're asking if I'm okay?" Santana sat on the opposite side of the couch, staring at Rachel. "Well, if you must know I haven't found my place in New York yet. I'm still trying to figure it all out."

"So you don't know what you want to do in New York yet?" Rachel wondered. "Why don't you apply to NYADA? You're a great dancer, a great singer and a great actor."

"I am all those things Berry but I'll leave that to you. I don't want to upstage you." Santana let out a small smile but then her smile diminished when she became serious. "How long have you been feeling funky?"

"Since yesterday, but I'm pretty sure that it's nothing but a mere stomach bug." Rachel tried to convince herself.

"Rachel, did you look in your calendar?" Santana wondered.

"You mean my lady calendar?" Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"That one. When was the last time that Aunt Flow came for a visit?" Santana asked. Rachel slowly got up from the sofa and headed to her room to look for her calendar. Rachel looked through her and Finn's drawers in an attempt to find the calendar and after a moment, she pulled the book from her drawer. Rachel flipped through the calendar to December and realized that her time of the month was five days late. Rachel dropped the book, running a hand through her hair and suddenly feeling nauseous again.

"Santana…" Rachel felt almost hopeless. Santana quickly came into the room to see Rachel looking scared. "I need you to go downstairs to the drugstore and get me a pregnancy test." Santana quickly obliged, heading out the door and running to the corner store. Rachel continued to look at her book and stood up from her position thinking about how it could have been slightly possible. She and Finn always used protection and she was on the pill. A thought then went through Rachel's mind as she held her stomach—Hunter. Rachel walked over to her phone, skimming through the phone calendar. No matter how many ways she put it, Rachel was late. Ten minutes later, Santana came through the door and handed Rachel the bag with the pregnancy test.

"Are you okay?" Santana worriedly asked her friend.

"I have to know…" Rachel simply said, walking into the bathroom and closing the door. Inside the bathroom, Rachel read the instructions and did what the test suggested, placing her timer for two minutes while she waited for the results. After the alarm on her phone went off, Rachel reluctantly went for the test and picked it up. As Rachel stared at the result, she felt her heart sink and her nausea returning.

_Positive._

Rachel looked at the test for a couple more moments and felt tears drip from her eyes. Her Broadway dreams seemed to have been crushed. Rachel Berry was possibly carrying a child! Santana opened the door slowly, seeing Rachel still sitting on the floor while eyeing the test.

"What does it say?" Santana softly asked. Santana kneeled next to Rachel, both of them staring at the test as Santana sighed. "Rachel…" Rachel buried her head into Santana's shoulder as she started sobbing with Santana rubbing Rachel's back. "It's okay. It's going to be okay." Santana assured her. Rachel and Santana sat in the bathroom for what felt like hours before Santana suggested that they'd go back to the living room. Santana and Rachel sat in the living room not saying a word until Santana let out a sigh. "Rachel, you have to tell Finn."

"I can't tell him…" Rachel muttered. Santana didn't understand why Rachel was reluctant about telling Finn.

"Rachel, why not? Finn has the right to know." Santana sighed.

"Santana, you should have seen him this morning. For the first time in a week, he was excited to go to school and direct the school musical. He's finally pursuing his dream and if I tell him that I'm possibly pregnant then he's going to leave." The thought of Finn leaving her was too much for Rachel and she started to cry again.

"Rachel, I know Finn. He may be hard headed and he may be a jerk sometimes and sometimes he might throw people out of the closet because of inevitable anger and he may kick stuff, not to mention that he was gullible enough to believe that he could get Quinn pregnant by making out in a hot tub…"

"Santana." Rachel stopped Santana on her rant to prevent her from saying anything else mean about Finn. Santana realized that she was getting off topic and got to the matter at hand.

"But if there's one thing I am sure about, it's that Finn loves you. He's not the type of guy to just leave because something goes wrong." Santana put a hand on Rachel's shoulder giving her a soft smile. "Everything's going to be okay, because Finn's not going to leave you. I think you should go to the doctor and make sure that you're pregnant before you get crazy." Rachel realized that Santana's words were good enough as she let out a slight breath.

"All right, I'll tell him as soon as he gets home from school." Rachel promised. Just then, the door began to click meaning that either Finn or Kurt were home. When the door opened, it revealed to be none other than Finn coming in with a smile on his face. It had to be the first smile that Rachel had seen on Finn that was genuine since he started going to NYADA. Finn saw Santana and Rachel sitting on the couch as his smile grew wider.

"Aww, are Santana and Rachel bonding?" Finn playfully said, walking over to sit in between them.

"Yeah, someone had to take care of her while she was sick." Santana told him while giving Rachel a 'tell him' look. "I'm going to go downstairs and get something to eat. Do you want anything Finn?"

"No, I'm good." Finn assured her. Santana got up from the chair and exited the room, while Rachel stared over at Finn. "How are you feeling?" Finn brushed some of Rachel's bangs from her face, but once he did, he observed Rachel's eyes were pink and puffy. Either she had been throwing up excessively or she had been crying. "Rach? Are you okay?" Hearing Finn's soft and soothing tone was enough to make Rachel burst into tears. Rachel hugged Finn tightly as he rubbed her back. "Is something wrong?" After a moment, Rachel looked at Finn, pressing her forehead to his with tears still going down her face.

"Will you promise that you won't leave me?" Rachel spoke while crying. Finn raised his eyebrow, shaking his head.

"I'm not leaving you. What's going on?" Finn asked, beginning to become frightened. Rachel went for the pillow that was behind her and pulled out the pregnancy test in her hand. She then handed it over to Finn who became muddled when he took it. Finn looked down at the results then back at Rachel, unsure of what to say. Rachel's tears got heavier as she buried her head in her hands, seeing that Finn was in complete shock.

"I knew it. Now you're going to leave me." Rachel shook her head as she started to get up from the sofa. Finn grabbed Rachel's arms to try to sit her back on the sofa. Luckily for Finn, Rachel didn't have a lot of strength so she sat back down on the couch in an instant.

"Rachel, I'm not leaving you. Why would you think I would leave?" Finn asked, rubbing her back.

"Because, we know the baby might not be yours because of what…because of…" Rachel couldn't finish her sentence as she started to cry again.

"Listen to me, Rachel. Even if you are pregnant and if the baby isn't mine, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and help you take care of it." Finn looked Rachel in her eyes, seeing that she was worrying a bit. "If you want, I can schedule a doctor's appointment for you so we can find out for sure but one drugstore pregnancy test could be wrong. A doctor could tell us for sure."

"I knew that you'd be mad…" Rachel wiped her eyes but Finn took her hand into his.

"I'm not mad. I'm a little upset you that tried to hide the pregnancy test under your pillow, thinking I might not have found it." Finn pointed to Rachel and the test but then relaxed. "But I'm not mad at you. How could I be? What happened wasn't your fault. Maybe the clinic is open on Saturday. That way we can go then." Finn got up from the sofa and headed over to the phone to make the phone call. Rachel watched Finn as he made the call for Rachel, nodding his head at the receptionists' questions over the phone before ultimately hanging up. "The appointment's on Saturday at 10." Finn told her. Finn joined Rachel on the couch, wrapping his arms around her and laying down on the couch. "I'm never going to leave you again Rachel, I promise. Just remember that you can tell me anything, okay?" Rachel nodded her head towards Finn as he pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry Finn." Rachel simply said.

"What are you sorry about?" Finn let out a smirk, holding Rachel tighter to him. "Stop saying sorry unless you actually did anything. From my records, you did nothing wrong, so there's nothing to be sorry about." Rachel released a small smile as Finn pressed his lips to Rachel and gave her fluttering kisses. Rachel giggled slightly, wrapping her arms around Finn's neck as she found herself on top of him. "Ah, I made you smile." Finn simply said.

"Yeah, you did. I love you." Rachel nuzzled her nose to Finn's, the nausea in her stomach disappearing. Finn kicked his shoes off and reached for the blanket, putting it over him and Rachel as they stared at one another. "So how was school today?" Finn couldn't help but give Rachel a slight chuckle, rubbing her back and pressing a kiss on her cheek.

"Wait a minute, everyone here is worried that you might be pregnant and you're concerned about how my day at school went?" Finn couldn't help but understand what he did to deserve such an amazing girl like her.

"You're just as important as I am." Rachel made circles on his chest, staring into his brown eyes. "So what happened today? Was everyone in awe over you taking over the play?"

"I'll get it right by opening night." Finn sighed. "I just hope that it won't be a disaster. I want everything to go right."

"And it will." Rachel assured him. "I have faith in you Finn. So, did anything else happen today?"

"Well, I did sing in my Vocal Training class today." Finn said. "The teacher wasn't as mean and said I have some potential."

"You see, I knew that you'd do fine." Rachel said. "What did you sing?"

"_Be Your Everything_." Finn said, as Rachel looked confused.

"I never heard that song before." Rachel told him.

"Neither did I, until I heard it on the radio a couple of days ago. I thought of you when I heard it, so I decided to sing my feelings for you in front of the whole class." Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"Can you sing a little it for me? Please?" Rachel asked, while putting herself in a position to sit up.

"Yeah, I will when you come back down here and let me hold you." Finn held his arms out playfully, showing the space between Rachel and his arms. Rachel lay back on top of Finn, making herself comfortable as he wrapped his arms around her, singing the chorus of the song.

_I'll be your shelter  
I'll be your storm  
I'll make you shiver  
I'll make you warm  
Whatever weather  
Baby I'm yours  
Be your forever, be your fling  
Baby I will be your everything._

As soon as Finn finished singing the chorus, Rachel pressed a kiss on Finn's lips, running a hand through his hair. Finn reciprocated the kiss as the two lovers made out on the couch. After a moment later, Rachel parted, circling circles on his chest.

"I love you Finn. Thank you." Rachel smiled down at him. Finn ran a hand through Rachel's hair, giving her a warm smile.

"Anytime." Finn said. Finn leaned into kiss Rachel—until an urgent expression appeared on Rachel's face as she got off Finn and rushed to the bathroom. "Are you throwing up again? Rachel?" But when Finn didn't hear any retching, he got up from the sofa to follow her to the restroom.

"I'm not quite sure if we're going to need that doctor's appointment." Rachel yelled from behind the door.

"Why?" Finn asked.

"Aunt Flow just came for her monthly visit. I guess she was late because I was stressed!" Rachel yelled from the other end. On the plus side, Rachel's time of the month was here meaning that she wasn't pregnant this time. But on the negative side, Finn would have to wait a whole week to make love to his fiancée again.

"That's…great Rachel." Finn said before turning his heels and going back to the living room to wait for Rachel there. _Girls are so complicated_, Finn thought to himself but as he reached the couch, he found himself with a smile on his face. _Rachel may be complicated, but she's my girl and I'd do anything for her…_

* * *

_Song Featured: Be Your Everything by Boys Like Girls (Sung by Finn Hudson)_


	25. Santana: Super Bass

_**A/N: Previously on Glee, Rachel thought that she possibly could have been pregnant from what happened to Hunter but it turns out that she was just stressed over all the events happening so fast. Finn found out that he's going to be the director of the play Les Miserables. Brody and Cassandra try to plot against Rachel and Finn and attempt to break them up. Not cool at all. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. If I did, Finchel would have never broken up. **

* * *

"Santana! Finn! Rachel! I got the mail!" Kurt yelled as he came into the apartment holding multiple envelopes. Kurt started to head to Rachel and Finn's room but noticed that there was a 'Do Not Disturb' sign—and he could have sworn he heard constant squeaking from Rachel's old bed. "Fine, I'll take it that you're busy!" Kurt yelled out, putting Rachel and Finn's mail on the counter. Santana entered the room, rubbing her eyes after taking a nap. "Santana, you took a nap? It's three in the afternoon."

"I didn't get sleep last night." Santana sat down at the table, opening her mail. "Berry and Finnenweenie have been screwing ever since three in the morning."

"You do realize you have to go to bed early. Besides, just wear earplugs. That's what I do." Kurt shrugged. "They're adults and they're going to get married soon."

"It's just that…"Santana turned towards the room door then back at Kurt. "Rachel had a pregnancy scare last week, and I don't think she's ready for a child. Especially with someone as incompetent as Finnenstein."

"So would you rather that Rachel have sex with Finn or with some random stranger off the street?" Kurt asked.

"I'd rather they respect everyone in the house and keep it down. That or get a hotel room." Santana shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, I don't know why Rachel likes being with Finn. He was terrible in bed."

"I never understood why you slept with him." Kurt shook his head.

"He needed to lose the V-Card." Santana simply replied.

"And that couldn't have been with Rachel and…why are we talking about them like that? Change the subject." Kurt shuddered, distracting himself by looking at the mail. "Oh look, a card from dad. And he sent me a postcard with the _Phantom of The Opera _building on Broadway on it."

"All right, as much as this is _interesting_." Santana's comment oozed in sarcasm as she stood up to go to her room to change. "I need to go and take a shower."

"So Santana, I don't mean to be pushy but what are you going to do while you're here?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know. I'll find something. Maybe I should start by going to Starbucks." Santana thought aloud.

"You're going to apply at Starbucks?" Kurt didn't mean for Santana to serve other people coffee in the big city. There were many possibilities. Why stop there?

"No, I just need to get some coffee. And to get some quiet in this house…" Santana walked over to Rachel and Finn's door and started banging on it. "Berry, get off your fiancé and get dressed! We're getting coffee!" Santana pressed her ear to the door to hear Finn yell in pain, meaning that Santana got rid of the bliss for the moment.

"_Santana!_" Santana heard Finn yell from the other side of the door. Santana clapped her hands together and started walking to her room.

"Mission accomplished." Santana smiled. "You're welcome."

"Yeah, until Rachel gets back from Starbucks." Kurt muttered under his breath, still reading his postcard.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Rachel and Santana were in a Starbucks in Manhattan while Rachel tried to fix her bangs in her mirror. She felt bad that she had to leave Finn at home but she thought that she could have taken the opportunity to get some coffee for him. However, she had to wonder why Santana wanted her out of all people to go with her.

"Santana, will you explain why we're really here?" Rachel put her pocket mirror away, staring at Santana. "I was perfectly comfortable at home."

"Sure you were. You were comfortable tangled in the sheets with Finn." Santana said a little too loudly, getting looks from people around her.

"Santana, shh…!" Rachel hushed her friend. "No one needs to know about my love life. Especially at Starbucks."

"Sorry, it's just…ever since Finn moved to New York you've been doing everything with him." Santana pointed out. "You go to school together, you eat together, you sleep together, you go everywhere together. A little bit of distance is good. Look, you were the one that was freaking out last week when you were having a pregnancy scare. I don't think having constant sex with Finn will help with not getting pregnant."

"Again with discussing my love life aloud at Starbucks." Rachel sighed. "Look, Finn and I protect ourselves every time so there's almost no chance of that happening. Can we stop talking about it now? I don't feel comfortable talking about that with you at Starbucks."

"All right, we'll drop it for now." Santana agreed. Santana and Rachel were relieved that they were the next ones in line to get their drinks and get out of there—until someone cut in front of them in line. "Whoa, hold up." Santana put up her hand, staring at Rachel.

"Santana, that happens. It's New York. It's fine." Rachel shook her head, allowing the person to go ahead of them but Santana didn't seem to be taking it lightly.

"Rachel, no one is allowed to cut in front of me anywhere." Santana began to sound annoyed.

"What if the person is holding a gun or a knife and you decide to confront them?" Rachel thought of the possibilities. However, once Rachel heard the person make their order she knew exactly who it was. "Or it could be my dance teacher…"

"Your dance teacher?" Santana rolled her eyes, now beginning to take charge towards Cassandra.

"Santana, no…" Rachel said in a hushed whisper, but it was too late. Santana had walked towards Cassandra, crossing her arms and giving her the signature 'Santana glare'.

"Hey, you cut in front of us." Santana plainly said. Cassandra turned around, facing Santana with a smirk.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you and your imaginary friend want to get some coffee?" Cassandra mocked. Santana raised an eyebrow towards Cassandra, letting out a hollow chuckle.

"Oh that was rich. An imaginary friend. For your information, I haven't had an imaginary friend since I was three years old so who do you think you're talking to like that?" Santana growled.

"I think I'm talking to a little brat that needs to be put in her place." Cassandra began to walk away until she noticed Rachel standing in line, trying to avoid her teacher. "Schwimmer, is that you?" Rachel gulped, turning her head towards Cassandra and trying her best to hold her tongue.

"Hi Cassandra." Rachel spoke in an almost monotone voice.

"You know Schwimmer; I would have expected you to be at McDonalds getting a Happy Meal than at Starbucks getting a coffee. That's a grown up step." Cassandra said in a mocking tone. Santana turned to Rachel, unbelieving that Rachel was just taking Cassandra's insults.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything to her?" Santana said to Rachel. Cassandra then realized that Santana and Rachel were standing in line together.

"Wait a minute; Schwimmer actually has a friend besides Jack the Giant?" Cassandra let out a laugh before her face turned serious. "That's cute."

"What did you just call my fiancé?" Rachel shook her head disbelievingly.

"Jack the Giant. He's freakishly tall and he needed a nickname." Cassandra walked towards Rachel, giving her a sneer. "Do you have a problem with it, because if you do then your grade can just dip."

"You can't threaten Rachel with school here." Santana stepped in, standing by her friend. "It's not school hours. So I suggest that you step back and keep walking because your threats don't work here."

"Well, we have an attitude now don't we?" Cassandra scoffed. "Whatever, I don't have time for you." Cassandra started to walk out of the Starbucks but Santana had other plans.

"Listen Pointy McBoo Boobs, this was just about you cutting in line—but now it's something so much bigger. It's not over between us." Santana vowed. Cassandra rolled her eyes, walking out of Starbucks while Rachel appeared flabbergasted.

"Santana, you can't just go threatening my dance teacher. She already gives me a hard time. I don't need her giving Finn a hard time too." Rachel sighed.

"Trust me Rachel, I won't get you and Finn involved in anyway. I promise." Santana headed over to the line to make their orders while Rachel let out a groan. She had better hoped that Santana kept her promise and left them out of it. She didn't need Cassandra giving Finn hell because of Santana's temper.

* * *

On Monday afternoon, Finn stood in front of the mirror in the dance studio, waiting for Rachel to finish with working on a monologue with one of the theatre teachers for her class. As he continued to stare at himself, he heard someone come in, and judging by the footsteps, he knew that it wasn't Rachel. Finn turned around to find Brody entering and staring over at Finn.

"Um, hey…" Finn waved and turned back to the mirror. He was still a little hurt that Brody openly poked fun at him in front of Rachel. Brody walked over and gave him an apologetic look.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you in front of your girl, Finn. Sorry." Brody said. Finn looked to Brody and then nodded his head, meaning that he accepted the apology.

"It's fine. It's just I want her to be proud of me. She strives for greatness and I don't want her to think that I'm a loser and that I'm holding her back." Finn revealed.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure that she thinks that you're just as special." Brody walked away to put his bag down before taking off his white shirt, showing his abs. Finn felt a bit self-conscious at that moment. He didn't have a six pack like that for Rachel to fawn over. "But just remember Finn, girls love six packs. After all, it's what makes their hormones get into a tizzy." Finn was about to say something but when he saw Rachel run in the room with a wide grin on her face, he knew that something big had happened.

"Rachel? Hey, what's going on?" Finn tried to casually greet her but she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist while staring into his eyes.

"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?!" Rachel sounded almost a little too excited.

"You had four cups of coffee and you need me to keep you away from the caffeine? Okay, I'm on it." Finn jokingly said while Rachel's face became wider.

"So you know how they have _Funny Girl_ on Broadway and their doing auditions? Well, my teacher recognized my talents and she put in a few words and got me an audition for the role of Fanny!" When Rachel told him the news, Finn hugged her tightly, pressing a huge kiss on her lips.

"That's fantastic! You see, you're special…I always knew you were. I'm so proud of you, Rachel." Finn continued to hug her tightly as she giggled like a little girl.

"That means that I need you to help me read over my lines, that is if you don't mind." Rachel bit down on her lower lip, but all Finn did was kiss her passionately.

"Of course I'll help you. Rachel, this is huge!" Finn couldn't believe it. Rachel, _his_ Rachel could be on Broadway! Their bliss was short-lived when Cassandra entered the room to see them happy.

"Schwimmer! I don't think that's warming up." Cassandra barked as Rachel almost hit the ground in surprise. Finn was able to prevent her from hitting the ground, looking at Cassandra with a glare. "Can I help you Jack the Giant?"

"Wh…what did you call me?" Finn almost found himself on the verge of walking up to Cassandra and confronting her, until he felt Rachel's hand grab his.

"Don't do it. She isn't worth it." Rachel softly told Finn and he calmed down almost immediately. He wasn't going to let Cassandra get in the way of his happiness for Rachel. One by one the students started filing in as Cassandra walked over to each of her students. When Cassandra reached Finn and Rachel, she gave them both a menacing look, Finn feeling a bit overprotective of Rachel at that moment. Cassandra walked back to the front, looking to the rest of the students.

"All right, now as you all know I have to grade you saps in this class so I'm going to give you a project that's worth 60% of your grade. You're going to pair up with a partner and I'm going to grade you." Cassandra said. Rachel and Finn looked to one another giving each other a smile. Finn was thinking that maybe he and Rachel could come up with some type of sexy tango dance. "Oh, I forgot to mention one last thing…I get to decide who you partner with." Rachel became nervous. What could have caused Cassandra to all of a sudden decide who they had to work with for the rest of the semester. Just then, there was a knock at the door, which caused everyone to turn around. Rachel and Finn's eyes widened, seeing just who it was. It was none other than Santana.

"Santana?!" Finn hissed, Santana turning her head to look at them. "What are you doing here?!"

"Oh God." Rachel slapped her forehead with her hand. Finn looked to Rachel, seeing that she was biting her lip.

"Rachel, what's going on?" Finn sounded a bit panicked.

"We went to Starbucks that day and Cassandra was in line. Santana and Cassandra got into a little spat." Rachel sighed.

"How little is a _little_ spat." Finn calmed down a bit.

"She called Cassandra 'Pointy McBoo Boobs." Rachel whispered.

"Oh man…" Finn knew it. Santana made them dead people.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have other things to do than bug me?" Cassandra sighed.

"Apparently you didn't get to know me during our last…_chat_." Santana walked over to Cassandra. "I'm from Lima Heights Adjacent and do you know what we do there? We do bad things. I don't know who this fake New York bad girl attitude is fooling. Well, I do…it's fooling Rachel over there, but you're sure as hell not fooling me."

"Please, you think you're bad? You think you've got what it takes?" Cassandra circled around Santana. "I know one way to settle this. Sing-off."

"You want to sing against me?" Santana scoffed. "Then you are sorely going to lose."

"Oh is that so? Brody, play the boom box. Let's show little Miss Ohio how we run things in New York." Cassandra walked over to Santana, giving her a smirk. The next thing anyone knew, Santana and Cassandra were in a duel with everyone except Finn, Rachel and Brody getting involved as the three of them watched intently from the corner of the classroom.

[Santana]  
This one's for the boys with the booming system  
Top down AC with the cooling system  
When he come up in the club he be blazing up  
Got stacks on deck like he's saving up

[Cassandra]  
And he ill, he real, he might got a deal  
He pop bottles and he got the right kind of bill  
He cold, he dope he might be broke  
He's always in the air but he never flies coach

[Santana]  
He's a total freaking trip, trip  
Sailor of the ship, ship  
When he make it drip, drip  
Kiss him on the lip, lip  
That's the kind of dude I was looking for  
And yes you get slapped if you looking, oh

[Cassandra]  
I said excuse me you're a hell of a guy  
I mean, my, my, my, my you're like pelican fly  
I mean, your so shy and I'm loving your tie  
You're like slicker than the guy with that thing on his eye

[Santana]  
Yes I did  
Yes I did  
Somebody please tell them who the hell I is  
I am Nicki Minaj I mack them dudes up  
Back coupes up and chuck the deuce up

[Santana and Cassandra]  
Boy you got my heartbeat running away  
Beating like a drum and it's coming away  
Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass  
Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass  
He got that super bass  
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, boom  
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, boom  
boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass  
He got that super bass  
boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass  
He got that super bass

[Santana]  
See I need you in my life more me to stay  
No, no, no, no, no I know you'll stay  
No, no, no, no, no don't go away

[Cassandra]  
Boy you got my heartbeat running away

[Santana]  
Don't you hear that heartbeat coming your way

[Cassandra]  
Oh it be like boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass

[Santana]  
Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass, bass, bass

[Santana and Cassandra]  
Boy you got my heartbeat running away  
Beating like a drum and it's coming away  
Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass  
Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass  
He got that super bass  
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, boom  
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, boom  
boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass  
He got that super bass  
boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass  
He got that super bass

Santana and Cassandra found themselves face to face after the song while Finn, Rachel and Brody watched from afar. While Finn and Rachel wanted to hide in a corner in hopes of never being seen, Brody looked intrigued, as if Santana was just the person he needed for a plan. Brody walked over to Finn, continuing to stare at Santana.

"So what's the deal with Santana?" Brody asked.

"She doesn't play for your team." Finn simply said, keeping his eyes on his friend. He and Rachel were going to have to have a word with her as soon as they got home.

"And now that I made my point, I am just going to leave." Santana smirked, turning away from Cassandra while heading out the door. Deep down inside, Cassandra was fuming. She couldn't believe that she was stood up in front of her class by a friend of Rachel and Finn's. Cassandra took to the matter at hand and started assigning partners for the dance project. Cassandra walked over to Rachel, Finn and Brody with a smile on her face.

"Schwimmer…you're partnering with Brody." Cassandra then turned to Finn who realized that there were no more girls in the class.

"Then who am I supposed to dance with?" Finn looked around, figuring that maybe he could do a routine by himself.

"Oh, don't worry. I didn't forget about you." Cassandra pretended to care. "You get to partner with me." Once Rachel heard those words, she felt the anger boiling up inside her body. She felt that Cassandra collaborated her with Brody on purpose just so she could have Finn to herself! "All right, class is dismissed. Just so you know Schwimmer, you and Brody are going to dance first in three weeks. Make sure you have something good. I know I'll have some fun with your fiancé." Rachel growled as Cassandra walked away and Brody headed out the door. Finn noticed Rachel's anger, and put an arm around her shoulder, trying to soothe her.

"Everything's going to be all right." Finn promised.

"You know she did that on purpose." Rachel said, staring at Cassandra.

"I know, Rachel. I know." Finn continued to rub Rachel's back.

"I don't want her trying anything funny with you." Rachel muttered, her glare becoming evident.

"Trust me; if she does then I'm going to take matters into my own hands." Finn looked over to Cassandra, the both of them staring at their dance teacher.

* * *

Santana walked down the steps of NYADA as she started to head to the subway to go back to Bushwick. However, she didn't make it very far when she noticed Brody walking towards her with a smile appearing on his face. Santana stopped to stare at Brody, trying to figure him out.

"You're Santana, right?" Brody pretended to forget her name in order to spark a conversation.

"Yeah, and you are?" Santana wondered.

"Brody. So, what brings you to New York?" Brody asked.

"I'm still trying to find my way after my breakup with my girlfriend." Santana admitted, still wondering what Brody wanted. Brody went into his pocket and pulled out a card, handing it over to Santana.

"I think I could have a use for you where you'd make a lot of money. Give me a call if you make up your mind." Brody started to walk back to the school, but Santana had made up her mind.

"What do you need me to do?" Santana asked. Brody turned back around, a smirk appearing on his face. Santana returned his smirk, feeling that she finally had a purpose in New York. She was going to make some money…the only thing is that Santana didn't know what she was getting herself into.

* * *

_Song Featured: Super Bass by Nicki Minaj (Sung by Santana Lopez and Cassandra July)_


	26. Finchel: 1234 (I Love You)

**A/N: _Previously on Glee, Santana got into an argument with Rachel and Finn's dance teacher and even went as far as to show up in the middle of their dance class in order to embarrass Cassandra. Cassandra continues to give Finn a hard time by pairing Rachel with Brody for the final project and she has a crush that's creepy that won't go away. Brody gives Santana a secret job and we don't know what she does. I mean, it would be hard to guess. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, unfortunately.**

* * *

"Look, I don't get why you both are mad at me." Santana, Rachel, Finn and Kurt were sitting around the dinner table—and Finn and Rachel were currently scolding her about showing up at their dance class and standing up to Cassandra in front of everyone. "You know that I get angry when people treat me like a child, so I took matters into my own hands and did something about it."

"Yes, but you didn't have to show up at our class and embarrass us like that." Finn started rubbing his temples in frustration. "I just started school there, Santana. And thanks to you, I don't get to work with Rachel on our final that's due at the end of the semester. Instead, I have to work with Pointy McBoo Boobs."

"Pointy McBoo Boobs?" Kurt looked up from his plate to give a look to Rachel.

"Long story." Rachel waved her hand as she took a sip of water.

"Look, the point is that I'm already being treated like a freak at NYADA and you possibly just went in there and made everything worse." Finn kept his eyes to Santana, the frustration evident.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me showing up anymore." Santana shrugged. "Because, I found myself a job that is going to make more money than all of you combined."

"And what job is this?" Finn leaned back in his chair, becoming interested.

"Honestly, I don't think that it matters what I'm doing, Finnocence." Santana shrugged her shoulders not seeing Finn's point. "Now, why don't you run along and try to plan your honeymoon and wedding to Berry with the $20 that you have in your pocket. You know, the money that you have could possibly get you hitched in a cardboard box with a priest that's about 60 and has every Justin Bieber song on his iPod."

"All right Santana, I get the fact that I need money for a proper wedding…which is why I actually have some in the bank." Finn smirked. Rachel and Kurt looked up from their plates to Finn.

"You have the money for our wedding?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, and I even saved some for a honeymoon. Rachel, I know that I can't afford to get you twenty or thirty million diamonds but the one thing I _can_ promise you is the best wedding of your life. I've been saving money for the past three years knowing that this was going to happen sooner or later." Rachel couldn't help but let out a wide grin towards Finn before planting a kiss on his lips.

"I love you, you know that right." Rachel whispered as soon as they parted.

"I know you do." Finn smiled. "And I love you."

"Oh boy, this is worse than the cheesiest Nicholas Sparks movie." Santana got up from the chair and headed towards the living room while Kurt looked to the door.

"She's being dramatic." Kurt declared, going back to his dinner.

"You think?" Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"So what plans do you two have tonight, and please don't tell me that it's spending the whole night locked in your room doing who-knows-what." Kurt looked to Rachel and Finn who simply gave Kurt a sly grin.

"Actually, instead we're going to head to the living room and watch a movie together." Rachel got up from the table and took her and Finn's plate to the sink.

"What movie are you watching?" Kurt asked.

"_Funny Girl_." Finn concluded. Kurt let out a loud laugh but as he continued laughing, he realized that Finn was being serious. Finn was going to watch _Funny Girl_…

"Oh…you were serious" Kurt stopped laughing, then looking to Rachel. "He's not going to be able to sit through two hours of Barbra Streissand bliss."

"I am going to sit through the movie." Finn declared as he stood up from the table. "I promised Rachel that I would…"

"Are you watching _Funny Girl_ because you're preparing to watch it when it goes on Broadway?" Kurt asked. Rachel and Finn gave each other a smile before Finn urged Rachel to tell Kurt the good news.

"Actually, Kurt…I'm watching _Funny Girl_ because…I'm auditioning for Fanny on Broadway." Kurt flashed a huge smile towards Rachel as he got up from the chair and hugged her tightly.

"Rachel, that's incredible! Okay, you need to make sure that you get into character for this role. It's simply a must if you're going to get the part." Kurt excitedly told her.

"Well, I am going to practice hard which is why I I'm going to practice every day after all my classes are over in the NYADA auditorium." When Finn heard that, his smile diminished from his face.

"Wait, I thought that after school ended, it was Finchel time." Finn wondered. Rachel noticed the serious look on Finn's face as she walked over to him and put a hand on his cheek.

"And it still will be Finchel time, babe." Rachel assured him. "It's just that I need to practice. You want me to get the role, right?"

"Well, yeah…" Finn nodded his head.

"So, I think you can go another hour without me. Besides, you can practice for your final in dance class. It has to be flawless if you want an A." Rachel moved her arms around his neck as he stared at her.

"But aren't you going to be practicing too, with Brody?" Finn sighed.

"Yes, but I can squeeze him in during the school day so that we'd have more time for each other." Rachel smiled.

"All right, because tomorrow I wanted to go to Men's Warehouse and try to find a brand new tux for the wedding." Finn smiled.

"But we haven't even decided the wedding date." Rachel became confused.

"Well…" Kurt said from behind Rachel. Rachel turned around to Kurt then back at Finn. They decided a wedding date…without telling Rachel?

"I decided that at the end of the school year, if it's fine for you. That way we could have the whole summer to enjoy being married and the kids from McKinley are going to be out of school and they could come for the wedding." Finn tried to sell the idea to Rachel.

"Finn, as much as the end of the school year sounds lovely that's a lot of planning." Rachel tried to bring Finn to reality.

"I know it's a lot, I know." Finn nodded his head, but then gave Rachel a smile. "Which is why I had Kurt and Blaine help me with preparing everything. Come on, let us plan the wedding. That way you can focus on your finals and your _Funny Girl_ audition. Please?" Rachel looked to Finn's begging eyes before releasing a small smile.

"As long as I get to choose the colors, the music and the chairs we sit in during the reception, I guess it's okay." Rachel cutely agreed. Finn pressed a kiss on Rachel's lips then parting as he walked over to Kurt.

"You're not going to regret it, Rachel. I promise." Finn said. Rachel let out a smile towards Finn, nodding her head.

"I know I won't. I trust you." Rachel grabbed the DVD off the table, waving it as she headed towards the living room. "Come on Finn! Let's go watch _Funny Girl_. But you'd have to sit up on the sofa. I want to lay my head in your lap."

"I'm not objecting to that. As long as I get to play with your hair, I don't mind." Finn smirked. Rachel and Finn walked out of the living room as Kurt looked longingly at them. He was happy for his friends being in love and engaged to be married—he just wished that he were in that same position with Blaine.

* * *

McKinley High School was buzzing two weeks after the New Directions won at Sectionals, but what had the school in a frenzy was the way they won Sectionals. They had alumni join them on stage for one of the numbers, something that hadn't even been attempted in years. Blaine and Brittany enjoyed the attention from the freshman, and even had some plans for Regionals that was in three weeks. As Blaine and Brittany walked into the choir room, waiting for Mr. Schuester's instructions, some of the younger Glee Club members were excited of the prospect of Regionals and the chance of actually making it to Nationals.

"Can you believe it, only three more weeks until Regionals." Marley exclaimed, looking to Jake, Ryder and Blaine.

"Yeah, that sounds great." Blaine sighed, then got lost in thought. This would be the first Regionals since going to McKinley that they wouldn't have Kurt on their team. Sure, Kurt was one of the hearts and soul of New Directions (aside from Rachel of course) but Blaine found himself thinking about Kurt more as time went on.

"Aren't you excited Blaine?" A voice bought Blaine back to reality. Blaine turned his head to see that Ryder asked him a question.

"What was that?" Blaine shook his head.

"He said that aren't you excited that the alumni are coming back in three weeks?" Marley repeated the question. "I can't wait to see Rachel again and ask her the details of what's going on with the wedding."

"Rachel and Finn getting married?" Kitty spoke up from the other side of the room. "Please? I'll give them six months. Finn' could barely carry a tune. Don't know what a Broadway genius would want with him?"

"Because she can see past his flaws." Marley pointed out. "Finn's a great person and I'm happy for them. They seem like the perfect couple."

"Oh, they're far from perfect." Artie spoke up, looking away from them.

"What do you mean?" Marley asked.

"Well, Finn and Rachel are as different as different could be." Artie pointed out. "Finn is more insecure about himself while Rachel is more out there and she loves the attention and the sound of Broadway. Finn couldn't picture himself being on Broadway and I doubt that he's actually seen a Broadway play."

"Well, well, well." The kids looked up to see Mr. Schuester enter the room with a wide grin. "I see we can't stop talking about Rachel and Finn, right?"

"They're getting married, Mr. Schue." Brittany smiled. "One day I hope that I could get married."

"Well, they're not married today, so let's get started on the Glee Club lesson." Mr. Schuester then snapped his fingers as if he was forgetting to say something. "But if there's something that you want to know, I got a call from Finn yesterday and he told me some great news about Rachel. Rachel got an audition for the Broadway play _Funny Girl_. She's auditioning for the lead, Fanny."

"What?" Marley's eyes widened with a smile.

"Are you serious?" Brittany added.

"If anyone deserves that role, it has to be Rachel." Tina looked to Brittany and Artie. "She's fantastic."

"She is and I told Finn that we're all rooting for her. Now, let's get to today's lesson." Mr. Schuester walked over to the board to write down the week's lesson. Blaine's mind began to wander. Everyone was still talking about Rachel and Finn but what about Kurt? What Kurt was doing was important as well. He was at Vogue—but maybe in this classroom Broadway was more luxurious than fashion.

* * *

The next afternoon, Finn spent his free period in the NYADA library, looking through the DVD section in hopes of finding the play _Les Miserables_ from Broadway in the collection. He wanted the play to be just perfect and he wanted Rachel to be proud that he was able to do something right. Rachel entered the library hoping to return a book on dancing for her dance class when she spotted Finn still looking through the DVD collection. Rachel walked over to him, a sly smirk appearing on his face.

"Excuse me, do you need any help sir?" Rachel faked an old librarian voice. Finn turned around about to answer the "librarian" back, but when he found it was Rachel his smile widened.

"Yeah, do you know where they keep _Les Mis_ the Broadway play on DVD?" Finn played along. Rachel playfully hit him in the chest before pressing a kiss on his lips.

"I don't know, why don't you ask the librarian." Rachel whispered, looking at the clock behind her. "I was just returning this book and then I have to meet Brody to practice our dance for our final." Hearing Brody's name stiffened Finn a bit, becoming worried that Rachel would spend all her time with him. "I promise that nothing will happen between us. Remember, I love _you_. I don't love anyone else." Finn's smile widened, feeling more at ease.

"All right then. I trust you." Finn said. Rachel kissed Finn once more before reluctantly parting and Rachel going to the front desk. Finn continued to eye Rachel, watching her leave the room. There had to be a way that he could show Rachel how much he loved her. As Finn let out a loving sigh towards his fiancée, he turned back around to look for the DVD—only to see that Cassandra was standing right in front of him. "Ugh, it's you." Finn tried not to sound disgusted since that _was_ his dance teacher and she had the power to grade him.

"Gee, I thought you would have been excited to see me." Cassandra sounded almost as if she were flirting. Finn gulped, trying to move his eyes back to the DVD rack.

"Well, I'm busy. I'm looking for a DVD so if you'll excuse me." Finn tried to politely get away from Cassandra.

"Finn, what do you see in Schwimmer anyway? I don't get it." Cassandra sounded as if she were actually interested.

"Okay, one…her name is _Rachel!_ I don't know how many times I have to tell you that and I guess I love her because she's amazing. She makes me feel good emotionally and physically." Finn noticed the DVD right behind Cassandra's head, trying to head over to get it.

"Finn, Schwimmer's a girl. I'm a woman. I could give you whatever you want." Cassandra really _was_ trying to flirt with him. Finn had enough of Cassandra, grabbing the DVD and heading towards the checkout desk.

"No, _Rachel's_ a woman. You're an ogre!" Finn turned around and walked away, but all Cassandra did was let out a grin. She didn't seem offended by Finn's comment, because she knew just the way on how she could seduce him.

* * *

Rachel spent the last hour working on her dance routine with Brody and although she seemed relieved that her dancing was going well, she felt a little uncomfortable. She felt that Brody and Cassandra were in cahoots somehow. She noticed Cassandra trying to flirt with Finn at the library and Brody was constantly trying to flirt with her during the rehearsal. Rachel was currently sitting in the cafeteria, having already bought lunch for her and Finn while reading her iPhone at all the text messages she had received from the kids at McKinley. She didn't remember telling anyone about her audition for _Funny Girl_, so who did? Finn entered the lunchroom, spotting Rachel and walking over to her table.

"Hey." Finn said as he leaned in for a kiss. Rachel gave him a peck then turned back to her phone while Finn sat down next to her. "What are you doing?"

"I've been getting texts from the kids in McKinley saying that they're excited for my audition for _Funny Girl_." Rachel scratched her head, wondering how everyone found out. "I never told anyone about it."

"Oh, I told them." Finn took the sandwich that Rachel had bought for him and started to eat it.

"You told them? Why?" Rachel sounded a bit panicked.

"Because I wanted them to know." Finn didn't see what the big deal was.

"Finn, I didn't want to tell them until I was sure that I had the part." Rachel sighed, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Sorry, I didn't know that you didn't want to tell them." Finn became apologetic. "It's just, I wanted to brag that it was you that had the audition. _My_ Rachel was being considered for a Broadway role. And I was so proud of you that I had to tell someone. I wanted to tell the whole world how much I love you and how much I'm proud of you." Rachel couldn't stay annoyed with Finn when she heard his reasoning. Rachel cupped his face with her hands, giving him a smile.

"You're really lucky you're cute." That was Rachel's way of saying that she forgave him. Finn kissed Rachel softly then went back to eating his lunch.

"Have you ever seen something more gorgeous in your entire life?" A voice that was neither Finn nor Rachel said. Finn looked up and noticed the theatre kid who bullied and slushied him the first day of school.

"Excuse me?" Finn's eyes widened.

"Not you, Finn. That gorgeous goddess right next to you." The theater kid fawned over Rachel. Rachel looked up to the kids letting out a sigh.

"Hi Ronald." Rachel rolled her eyes while Finn kept his eyes on them. "I thought we talked about this, I'm not single."

"What's wrong with getting on the Ronald train?" Ronald smirked. Rachel rolled her eyes and Finn had enough of Ronald annoying her.

"Ronald? Leave her alone. She's not interested in you." Finn sighed. Ronald looked to Finn with a look of disgust.

"Rachel, why are you hanging out with this outcast for? Someone as beautiful as you should be with someone who's as equally talented…as me." Ronald tried to push Finn to get near Rachel but Finn had enough about him, and Rachel had enough as well.

"Ronald, meet Finn, my fiancé." Rachel said. "Also, Finn tells me that you were the one that slushied him and made him feel unwelcome his first day of school."

"He doesn't look like us. He doesn't belong here." Ronald huffed.

"Yes he does." Rachel sternly said. "And if you really liked me, you're going to treat Finn with respect. I'm not asking you to like him. I'm asking you to respect him. Are we clear?" Ronald contemplated it for a moment then let out a sigh.

"Fine. I'll be nice to him." Ronald rolled his eyes but then gave Rachel a dreamily look. "See you later beautiful goddess." As Ronald made his way out of the cafeteria, Finn shuddered at him, looking back to Rachel.

"I find it really creepy when he calls you a beautiful goddess." Finn admitted. Rachel waved her hand then looked back to her iPhone.

"Apparently, they say I remind them of Barbara Streissand." Rachel sighed.

"Well, I'm still going to be careful with him." Finn kept his eyes to the cafeteria door.

"Trust me; I don't want to be his beautiful goddess." Rachel put her phone away to look at Finn as he looked down at his sandwich.

"And why is that?" Finn wondered.

"Because I'm your beautiful goddess." Rachel slyly said. Finn let out a chuckle as Rachel planted a kiss on his cheek.

"You got me good there." Finn chuckled while Rachel leaned her head on his shoulder. "You know, I'm glad that we have no school tomorrow."

"Why? Are you still a little uncomfortable with school?" Rachel asked.

"No, I'm not…" Finn tried to convince Rachel but realized that the more he thought about it, the more he was uncomfortable. "Okay, I am a little uncomfortable with being here. All these kids are crazy talented and I'm just…me."

"Finn, what did I tell you when you first started school? You're different and being different is good." Rachel assured him. Rachel and Finn smiled at one another, but didn't notice that Brody entered the cafeteria looking right at Rachel.

"Rachel!" Brody yelled. Rachel and Finn turned around, noticing Brody walking towards them and pulling a seat up to sit with them.

"Hi Brody." Rachel smiled, trying to be polite. Finn just continued to stare at Brody, wondering what he wanted.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Brody wondered. To Finn it sounded like Brody was asking Rachel out…in front of him!

"Tomorrow, I actually was going to practice for _Funny Girl_." Rachel said. "I'm auditioning towards the end of the school year and I have to be just perfect."

"Oh, that's actually a shame." Brody sighed but then pulled out some tickets from his pocket. "I have tickets to Wicked and I was wondering if you wanted to go. I'm sure you would want to."

"Oh…" Rachel's eyes widened at the tickets, seeing that they were in the first row. "These tickets are in the first row. How did you get these?"

"I know some people and they hooked me up with them." Brody flashed his pearly whites, which made Finn feel insecure about his own teeth. Rachel would want someone who had pearly whites and hot abs, would she? "Do you want to go?" Rachel looked to Finn, hoping that it would be okay with him. As much as Rachel felt a little unsure about Brody, she wanted to see Wicked from the front row—and maybe Brody wasn't as bad as she thought. Finn reluctantly looked from Rachel to Brody before letting out a sigh of defeat.

"It's not a problem with me." Finn flashed a small fake smile. "As long as Rachel has fun, right?" Rachel placed a kiss on Finn's cheek and then took one of the tickets from Brody.

"I would love to go see Wicked. I'm sure me practicing for _Funny Girl_ could wait a day." Rachel smiled.

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow at noon." Brody smiled, then got up from the seat and left. Finn grumbled under his breath and Rachel understood that Finn was a little mad.

"Finn, it's not like anything is going to happen. I'm just going because they're floor seats. I've never been able to sit in the first row." Rachel tried to reason with him. "I promise that as soon as I'm done with the play I'll come home and spend as much time with you as you want." Finn looked up to Rachel, seeing her chocolate eyes giving him the puppy dog pout.

"Well…I guess that will be all right." Finn agreed to the compromise. Rachel rubbed Finn on his upper back, getting up from her seat while holding out her hand for Finn to take.

"Remember Finn, we can hang out with other people but whatever we have…it's stronger than anything in the world. We're Finchel…we're endgame." Rachel's words were enough for Finn to grab Rachel's hand and kiss it.

"And that's why I love you." Finn smiled. Finn looked down to his watch and realized that he was running late for his final class of the day. "I have Vocal Technique today and you finished your classes for the day. Do you want to sit in?" Rachel smiled and nodded her head while Finn stood up.

"I would love to sit in your class today." Rachel nodded her head while she and Finn headed into the Vocal Technique class. Many of the kids turned to Rachel and each of them gave her a love struck grin. Rachel blushed, sitting in one of the chairs in the back to observe Finn's class. Finn pressed a kiss on Rachel's cheek then headed to his seat to talk to a couple of his classmates as Rachel observed him. She had never noticed that Finn was so confident in this class. In theatre, he looked uncomfortable. In dance class, he looked lost. When Finn was in Vocal Technique, he had so much poise and confidence. She gave him a loving smile before she heard her phone vibrate. Rachel decided to let it go as Finn's teacher entered the room with a smile.

"All right you pupils. Today in Vocal Technique, it's Freestyle Tuesday, meaning that you can sing whatever song you want, and then we'll judge you from there. So who would like to go first?" The teacher looked around to the students. Finn raised his hand, the teacher pointing to Finn and then to the stage. "Thanks for wanting to try it out Finn." The teacher said. Finn walked over to the front stage, getting the microphone ready, grabbed the nearest acoustic guitar before looking right at Rachel.

"This song is for someone extremely special to me." Finn said, still looking at Rachel. Rachel then listened intently as Finn started singing, not keeping his eyes off Rachel the entire time.

1-2-1-2-3-4

Give me more loving than I've ever had  
Make it all better when I'm feeling sad  
Tell me when I'm special even when I know I'm not  
Make it feel good when it hurts so bad  
Barely get mad  
I'm so glad I found you  
I love being around you  
You make it easy

It's as easy as 1-2-1-2-3-4  
There's only ONE thing  
TWO do  
THREE words  
FOUR you  
I love you  
There's only  
ONE way  
TWO say  
THREE words  
And that's what I'll do  
I love you

You make it easy  
It's as easy as 1-2-1-2-3-4  
There's only ONE thing  
TWO do  
THREE words  
FOUR you  
I love you  
There's only  
ONE way  
TWO say  
THREE words  
And that's what I'll do  
I love you

I love you

When Finn finished singing, the class clapped their hands as Finn continued to stare over at Rachel. As the teacher turned to see Rachel in the back of the class, he couldn't help but let out a smile as well. That was the best he had heard Finn sing in this class and he couldn't wait to hear Finn sing more in the future.

"That was the best you sounded Mr. Hudson. Well done." The teacher nodded his head. Finn's smile turned wide then turned to Rachel who was clapping her hands, giving him the proudest smile ever. "I guess it helps to have good inspiration here."

"Yeah, it does help." Finn replied his eyes still glued to Rachel. Finn and Rachel continued to gaze at one another, and didn't notice Brody staring at Finn from outside the door. Brody was going to have to do something about Finn—and he knew exactly what he was going to do.

* * *

_Song Featured: 1234 (I Love You) by Plain White T's (Sung by Finn Hudson)_


	27. Rachel: My Man

**A/N: _Previously on Glee, Cassandra continues to try to get Finn to leave Rachel but Finn called Cassandra an ogre and Rachel a woman which was kind of romantic yet kind of rude on Cassandra's part. Brody invites Rachel to go see Wicked and Finn didn't look too happy about it. The New Directions find Rachel and Finn's engagement entertaining but Kitty thinks they'll only last for six months. That's not cool Kitty, not at all. Finn begins to wonder about Santana's new job that Brody gave her. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, although I wish I did.**

* * *

"Finn, I have to go. I really do." Rachel was trying to head out the door to meet Brody in order to watch Wicked, but Finn was being unusually clingy that day.

"I just don't want you to go." Finn refused to let go of Rachel's hand, a hopeful smile appearing on his face. "Maybe Brody cancelled?"

"Brody? Cancelling? Right." Rachel scoffed, removing her hand softly from Finn's. "I'll be home by four. All right? I promise as soon as I get home you have my undivided attention." Finn pretended to think about it for a moment then shook his head.

"But I want to spend time with you now…" Finn slightly whined. Rachel leaned up to kiss Finn passionately, with Finn almost forgetting why he was acting childish. After Rachel parted, she ran a hand through Finn's hair, giving him a sly smirk.

"There'll be plenty more where that came from if you let me go." Finn unwillingly let go of Rachel's hand as she grabbed her jacket to go out the door.

"So what am I supposed to do for three hours?" Finn wondered.

"Watch T.V or something. Kurt will be home soon so you can finish _Funny Girl._ We didn't get to finish it because you were afraid Kurt wouldn't think you were manly if you cried during the movie." Rachel slightly teased.

"It's a very sad movie. When Nick went to jail for the embezzlement scheme and left Fanny with her one child is a tearjerker. We're not showing our kids this movie if I end up crying like a baby." Finn pointed a finger towards Rachel playfully as she rolled her eyes.

"Finn, our kids will watch whatever musical they want." Rachel buttoned her coat while placing her purse on her shoulder.

"Even _Grease_?" Finn hoped for a moment.

"Except _Grease_ unless it's to watch the musical numbers." Rachel let out a grin while walking over to Finn. "We'll talk musicals when we get back, okay baby?" Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's lips while rubbing his shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too." Finn smiled. Rachel started to head towards the front door and eyed Finn one last time before closing the door, leaving him all on his own. What was he supposed to do when he had no school? Finn shrugged his shoulders, taking the Funny Girl DVD and placing it in the DVD player. He might as well finish the movie—but first he was going to need some napkins to wipe his tears.

* * *

Rachel wandered along Times Square looking for the theater where she was to meet Brody to watch _Wicked_. She had to admit when she got the invitation she was a bit skeptical about going to hang out with Brody, but these were floor seats. That gave Rachel a reason in order for her to go. As Rachel entered the theater, she noticed that he was standing there—and he was looking unusually handsome. Rachel shook her head, remembering that she was already in love and she was engaged. She couldn't go for Brody. Not in a million years.

"Rachel, there you are." Brody looked over and started walking towards her.

"Hi there Brody." Rachel gave her widest smile.

"The show is going to start soon, so do you want to go and take our seats?" Brody wondered. Rachel nodded her head, walking over to him as they entered into the theatre. Rachel was interested in having a good time, but Brody was a little more interested in something else.

* * *

Back at the loft, Finn sat in front of the television, trying to get through _Funny Girl_. To him this felt like a token of love to Rachel if he had watched the whole thing for her. There were baseball games and football games on T.V but instead, Finn opted to skip them in order to watch the musical that his fiancée could be staring in if she got the part on Broadway. As Finn watched the movie, the door opened and closed, revealing to be none other than Santana who looked dead tired. Finn looked to Santana then turned off the T.V in haste. Santana noticed, walking over to her room.

"I'm pretty sure there's nothing on that television I haven't seen before." Santana let out a smirk.

"No, I wasn't watching anything like that!" Finn yelled back towards Santana.

"Right…" Santana spoke in a tone that said she didn't believe him.

"So where were you last night? You never came home?" Finn wondered. Santana walked back out of her room holding a wad of cash. Finn's eyes widened having never seeing as much money as that in his entire life.

"Does this answer your question, Frankenteen?" Santana counted the money slowly in order to taunt Finn, and it had seemed to be working.

"Santana, stop that. I don't make as much as you do." Finn sounded a bit annoyed.

"I know you don't." Santana put the money back in her purse, which had Finn wondering where Santana had gotten that money from.

"But seriously Santana, where did you get the money from? I mean, you said you had a job and you're bringing home like $2,000 a day. That's not normal unless you have a college degree." Finn pointed out.

"Don't worry what I'm doing out there Finn." Santana sounded nonchalant. "I'm bringing home money and I'm paying a fourth of the rent, right?"

"Actually, I think you're paying a third of the rent." Santana had hoped that Finn had miscalculated.

"Finn, there's four people that live here. There's me, Kurt, Rachel and you. Don't you pay some part of the rent?" Santana asked.

"Nope, Rachel never brought it up." Finn shook his head, not knowing what Santana was talking about.

"Well Finn, you're lucky if your wife-to-be never makes you pay the rent." Santana started to head into the kitchen in order to get a cup of coffee.

"I'm going to start chipping in around of here. I told Rachel that I was paying the T.V. this month." Finn brought it up.

"Whatever." Santana looked through the cabinets in hopes of finding coffee. "So what were you watching on T.V that you didn't want me to see?"

"It was nothing…" Finn sounded slightly embarrassed.

"Aw, what's wrong Finn? You don't want me to tell Rachel that you've been naughty?" Santana mocked.

"It was nothing like that." Finn assured Santana before letting out a sigh. "If I tell you, you have to promise that you're not going to laugh."

"All right. I won't laugh." Santana promised. Finn pulled the DVD case from under his armpit and showed her.

"I was watching _Funny Girl_." Finn winced for a moment, but when he saw that Santana wasn't laughing, Finn relaxed. As soon as Finn relaxed—Santana started laughing. "You promised you weren't going to laugh!" Finn scolded.

"I'm sorry but…you said that you were watching _Funny Girl._" Santana composed herself, staring at Finn.

"Yeah, I'm watching _Funny Girl_. I want to be educated and it's a good musical." Finn admitted.

"Wow, the day that Finn Hudson loved a musical, that's a new one. And this can't be as embarrassing as the Rocky Horror Show where you walked down the hallways of McKinley in your underwear." Santana snickered.

"Yeah, that was embarrassing." Finn chuckled slightly thinking about the memory. He then remembered why Santana was in the kitchen in the first place. "Coffee is in the fridge. Kurt put it in there this morning." Santana walked over to the fridge to get the coffee out so she could make a cup for herself.

"So how's NYADA treating you?" Santana asked, pouring the coffee grinds in the machine and flicked it on.

"Well, I was worried that it was going to be one of those scary experiences where everyone hated me and I didn't belong, but now I feel like I belong. I mean as long as I have Rachel, nothing can bug me." Finn smiled at the thought of Rachel.

"That's nice." Santana spoke in a monotone voice then grabbed her cup. "So, how was Cassandra July?"

"I hate her." Finn seethed.

"Why do you hate her, what did she do to you?" Santana started drinking her coffee after pouring it inside her cup while staring at Finn.

"She keeps flirting on me in front of Rachel. I'm afraid that Rachel's going to think that something is going on." Finn took his cup from the cabinet, pouring some coffee before heading to the cabinet to get the cream and sugar.

"Well then, it looks like you have to get Cassandra off your back." Santana sipped the coffee while a mischievous grin appeared on her face.

"Santana, I don't need you to go back to my school and take care of Cassandra." Finn sternly said, turning over to his friend. "I've been partnered with her for my final and that's as bad as it is. I don't need you doing something that will make it worse."

"Oh come on. You don't really believe that I'm the reason that you were partnered with that old hag, right?" Santana shook her head. "Cassandra wanted to dance with you because she's been plotting on how to get you away from Rachel. She didn't have to say anything, but I just know it. Why else would Brody all of a sudden be interested in Berry and ask her to a musical? I mean, think about it. Cassandra and Brody are somehow in cahoots."

"Right, what makes you think Brody's in cahoots with Cassandra. It's not like he asked Cassandra to partner him with Rachel." Finn scoffed.

"And that's your problem Finnocence. You're gullible and you're too nice." Santana gave Finn a serious look before going back to her coffee.

"And what makes you think I'm gullible and too nice?" Finn raised his eyebrow at the question.

"It's simple. You thought you got Quinn pregnant from making out in a hot tub. Puck's still your best friend although he slept with Quinn and made out with Rachel while you were dating both of them. You always gave the bullies at McKinley the benefit of the doubt and let's not forget how you got mono. You thought I wanted to help with the kissing booth you were setting up in the middle of the school."

"Wait, it was you who gave me mono?" Finn caught onto the last part.

"What? No why would you think something like that." Santana briskly lied, which as she expected Finn believed.

"Well, I am not gullible." Finn took the DVD case and headed towards the living room. "Now if you will excuse me, I am going to the living room so that I can watch _Funny Girl_ before Rachel gets home."

"You're such a man." Santana sarcastically remarked. "You'd rather watch a musical than boobs."

"And what's the problem with that? I'm in love." Finn let out a smirk before heading back into the living room with his coffee in order to finish watching the film. It was a good thing the move was almost over—and that Santana was a good distraction. He was beginning to feel his heart become overwhelmed by the film.

* * *

As soon as the musical ended, Rachel and Brody exited the theater both with smiles on their faces. Rachel wasn't expecting to have a good time with Brody, but she just did. Brody was no Finn, that's for sure. As nice as Brody was, Finn was the guy for Rachel, she just knew it. As they reached the corner for Rachel to catch the train back to Brooklyn, Brody turned to her with a smile.

"So did you have a good time?" Brody wondered.

"Yeah, surprisingly I did." Rachel said with a smile. "You know, I had to admit I was a bit skeptical about going to see Wicked with you because I thought that you would consider this as…a _date_. I know, crazy right?"

"Oh, but in my mind this was a date." Brody admitted. Rachel's smile diminished, turning into a serious expression.

"W…what?" Rachel stammered.

"This was a date for me. Think about it Rachel. This is what could happen if you date me. If you go to musicals, you can sit in the front row next to a good looking guy." Brody smiled. Rachel shook her head, unbelieving that Brody had possibly tricked her into going on a date with him.

"Brody, you seem very…" Nice wasn't the word that Rachel could have used in that second. "Special. But, I'm happy with Finn."

"But does Finn have abs or shiny white teeth like me?" Brody shrugged his shoulders, not seeing the point.

"No, but Finn does have a heart of pure gold…and that's where my heart needs to be right now. I have to get home. Wicked was lovely, so I thank you for…' Rachel never got to finish her sentence. Brody leaned in and kissed her, which caught Rachel off guard. It took Rachel a moment to process that Brody was kissing her before she removed her lips from his and her face twisted with rage. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Isn't that how you say goodbye?" Brody innocently wondered.

"No! That's…I have to go." Rachel turned around and started heading inside the train station. She had to get home to Finn—and he wasn't going to hear from her about the kiss that just happened. She didn't enjoy it, but knowing Finn he probably would have taken it the wrong way.

* * *

Rachel entered the apartment an hour later, in hopes of being able to compose herself before Finn got a hold of her. When Rachel turned around, she noticed that Finn was finishing up _Funny Girl_…and he was dabbing his eyes with tissues. Finn was crying during the movie! That sight began to warm Rachel's heart as she walked over to him and sat down.

"Finn? Are you okay?" Rachel slightly smiled at him. Finn turned to Rachel, pulling her close while softly crying into her arms.

"That was the most beautiful movie I've ever seen…" Finn spoke while crying. Rachel took a tissue and started dabbing Finn's tears away, giving him a grin.

"Finn, don't be embarrassed if you're crying. I cried when I saw _Funny Girl_ the first time. That's how lovely I thought the musical was." Rachel assured him. Finn suddenly felt like there was nothing to be ashamed about as he wiped the rest of his tears and stared at the television.

"I never knew a movie could make you feel like that." Finn let out a small smile.

"It's powerful, I'll give you that." Rachel kissed Finn's cheek, grabbing the DVD case from him. "I was thinking of auditioning with either 'Don't Rain on My Parade' or 'My Man'. I think I'll choose 'My Man'."

"Why is that?" Finn wondered as Rachel placed her forehead to his.

"Because, the line that I love the most from that song is 'whatever my man is, I am his forever more.'" Rachel blushed. Finn pressed his lips to Rachel's, engulfing her in a sweet kiss before wrapping his arms around her.

"I love you so much." Finn whispered into her ear.

"I love you too Finn." Rachel let out a mischievous grin before pressing a kiss to Finn's forehead. "Now that I'm back, what do you want to do?" Finn knew that Rachel was implying sex, but there was something else that he wanted to do.

"Can we watch _Funny Girl_ again from the top?" Finn picked up the DVD case, causing Rachel to let out a grin.

"Of course we can…" Rachel's smile widened as Finn pressed play on the DVD player with the remote. As Rachel and Finn continued to watch the movie, Rachel began to feel more secure in his arms—but she was also feeling a little guilty about the kiss with Brody. Rachel had no reason to feel guilty. As a matter of fact, she didn't like the kiss—but if Finn ever found out, he wouldn't take it so lightly and he'd probably be really upset with her. But for right now, Rachel had Finn in her arms, and as the song 'My Man' played on the T.V, Rachel pictured herself in that role, singing it at that moment with the crowd cheering on their feet and her being one of the biggest Broadway stars in the history of the world.

_Oh my man I love him so  
He'll never know  
All my life is just despair  
But I don't care  
When he takes me in his arms  
The world is bright  
All right_

_What's the difference if I say  
I'll go away  
But I'll come back on my knees someday  
For whatever my man is  
I am his forever more_

_Oh my man I love him so!  
He'll never know  
All my life is just despair  
But I don't care  
When he takes me in his arms  
The world is bright  
All right_

_What's the difference if I say  
I'll go away  
But I'll come back on my knees someday  
For whatever my man is  
I am his_

_Forever more_

* * *

Late that night, Kurt was beginning to head back to the apartment after a long day of looking at fabrics and designs. He needed a mental detox from work and what would have been perfect than to watch one of his favorite musicals turned Oscar Winning movie _Les Miserables_. He knew that Finn probably would have wanted to watch it since he was directing the NYADA musical. But as Kurt started to enter the apartment building, something caught his eye. He noticed Santana standing on the corner of one of the sidewalks, looking as if she was expecting someone. Kurt kept his eyes peeled, wondering if he should say something. A black Mercedes Benz pulled up to the corner where Santana was, inviting her to go in. Santana got into the car as it drove away, while Kurt's eyes widened. It wasn't what he thought, right? Kurt entered the apartment building and headed into the apartment where he found Finn watching something on television and Rachel sleeping in the crook of his neck.

"You know, you guys should just cuddle more often." Kurt closed the door, slightly startling Finn.

"We watched _Funny Girl_ for the second time and she got tired towards the end. I guess watching Wicked and Funny Girl took a toll on Rachel." Finn whispered, being extra careful in not waking her up. Kurt sat down on the couch next to Finn as they both observed Rachel deep in her slumber. Finn turned to Kurt, knowing that there was something going on by the look on his face. "Did something happen that I don't know about?" Finn wondered.

"What makes you say that?" Kurt began to look a little nervous.

"Kurt, if you don't tell me I swear, I will…" Finn started to threaten his stepbrother.

"Is Santana here?" Kurt asked.

"Santana? She said she was going out to the store. Why?" Finn sounded suspicious.

"I saw her getting into a car downstairs and she looked like she was going clubbing or something like that." Kurt noticed Rachel stirring in her sleep as Finn and Kurt looked at one another. "I think Santana's job is a little more promiscuous than we thought. $2,000 a night?"

"What are you trying to say?" Finn became even more suspicious.

"Finn, don't you see it. She got into a car, is bringing home a lot of money…Santana's selling herself!" At that revelation, Finn's eyes widened. Maybe Kurt was right…she was being secretive after all. But Santana wouldn't do that, would she? Unless…she was still hurting over her breakup with Brittany.

* * *

_Song Featured: My Man by Barbara Streissand from Funny Girl (Sung by Rachel Berry)_


	28. Brittana & Finn: If This Was A Movie

**A/N: _Previously on Glee, Rachel went to go see Wicked with Brody and was having a good time with him until Brody kissed her, leaving Rachel feeling a little guilty that she didn't tell Finn right away. Finn and Kurt noticed Santana bringing in more money than all of them and Kurt saw Santana go into a car, making him believe that Santana's selling herself. Yikes. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee but I wish I did. **

* * *

Brittany entered William McKinley High with almost a sense of purpose. She was still fresh off a Sectionals win, was dating Sam Evans and everything was looking bright for her. As Brittany headed to her locker, she noticed Sam who Santana famously dubbed "Trouty Mouth" talking to Blaine by his locker. Brittany had wanted to show Sam her idea for Glee Club that week…but when she tried to talk to him, he seemed more interested in what Blaine was saying.

"Hi Sam." Brittany gave Sam a wide smile. Sam turned around, giving Brittany a smile.

"Hey Brittany." Sam then turned back around and continued to talk to Blaine. Brittany felt somewhat hurt that Sam ignored her for another conversation, so she headed over to her locker, which was near Tina, Marley, Unique and Kitty.

"Hey, what happened with you and Sam?" Marley wondered, taking her book out of her locker.

"He's busy talking to Blaine…and that's all he's been doing since we got together." Brittany admitted.

"So he's basically been ignoring you for Blaine?" Marley didn't quite understand.

"Yep, so that's how it looks." Brittany sighed.

"Please, if he's more interested in Blaine over there then that can only mean one thing." Kitty rolled her eyes. "It means that you're boring. "

"I am not boring." Brittany retorted.

"She is not boring." Marley squinted her eyes towards Kitty. "Maybe you're boring. No guy is ever falling for you."

"And maybe you're pathetic." Kitty spat back.

"Are we really arguing about this now?" Brittany sounded a little flustered. Everyone stopped arguing, turning back to the usually dense Brittany. "I have a problem here. Sam's not interested in me anymore. What am I going to do?"

"Well, there's only one thing that you can do." Marley put a hand on Brittany's shoulder. "You have to talk to him and let him know it's bothering you."

"But I can't do that." Brittany shook her head. "He won't listen to me."

"Then you have to make him listen." Tina said. "Brittany, what boys are doing is making it seem like that we're needy and that we can't survive without them. You have to put Sam in his place. Boys will do that to you." Brittany's face seemed quizzical before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Santana never did anything like that to me. She never made me feel like I was unwanted." Brittany started to think that maybe being with Sam wasn't the greatest idea.

"So you have to decide, do you love Sam or do you love Santana." Marley soothingly said. "We just want you to be happy Britt. So you need to decide for yourself, okay?" Brittany nodded her head, while Marley smiled. "We have to go, but we'll see you in Glee Club, okay?" Brittany watched as her friends headed down the hallway to their class, but she kept finding herself staring at Sam. Brittany contemplated on whether or not she would talk to Sam, then started descending down the hall towards her first class. She had to plan what she was going to do—although she wasn't very good at planning things to begin with.

* * *

"Finn! We have to go! School starts in an hour and it takes that long to get there!" Rachel yelled from the living room with her hand on her hips. If there was one thing that Rachel hated, it was the fact that Finn was always a little late in getting ready. Finn said he had to look for his notebook for his theatre class since he spent the whole night before plotting on how he was going to direct _Les Mis_.

"All right, I'll be there in a minute!" Finn yelled back from the room, looking through his drawers for the notebook. "Have you seen my theatre notebook?!"

"I think you pushed it off the bed the night before when you were looking for your cell phone!" Rachel yelled back. "Finn, we have to go before Cassandra has our heads!" Finn opened the last drawer in the room to find his theatre book—and a book that he had never seen before but had a post-it with his name on it. Finn took the book out from the drawer and started skimming through it, realizing that the handwriting in it was from his deceased father. As Finn continued to look through the book, he didn't notice Rachel enter the room looking exasperated. "Finn Hudson, if you do not get up from there and leave this room this moment then I am…" Rachel didn't finish her threat when she saw the book in his hand. "Finn, what's that?" Finn turned back around towards Rachel, holding on to the book as if it would fly away in the wind if he let go.

"I found this book with my name on it. I don't remember packing it from Lima when I came here…" Finn continued to flip through the pages as Rachel walked next to him and crouched to look at him. "Rachel, this book is from my dad. It's his diary when he was in the army."

"Oh wow…and you just found it in your drawer?" Rachel sounded almost amazed.

"Yeah, it's incredible, isn't it?" Finn continued to skim through the book, the feelings of his father coming fresh into his mind. "You know he had a dishonorable discharge, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Rachel rubbed Finn's back soothingly, staring at the book. "Do you need a minute?" Finn looked to Rachel, shaking his head.

"No, I'm good. But if you don't mind I'm going to bring this book with me to school. I want to read it." Finn placed the book in his backpack, placing his backpack on his shoulder. "Come on, school awaits us and I don't need Cassandra July to give me a hard time." Finn gave Rachel a reassuring smile, but Rachel wasn't sure if Finn was all right.

"Babe, are you sure you're all right?" Rachel raised her eyebrow, giving Finn an inquisitive look.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, let's go to school." Finn intertwined his fingers with Rachel's as they left the room to head to school, but the thought of the book being in his room was kind of haunting him. It was almost if he was supposed to read it and do something about it…but what?

* * *

Santana was currently cuddled in with her snuggie, watching a television show when Kurt came through the door. It was the middle of the day and Rachel and Finn were at school, meaning that Kurt and Santana had the house to themselves for once. Kurt took this as the perfect time to talk to Santana about what he saw the night before. It was something that was bothering him for a while.

"Hey Santana…" Kurt put his keys on the nearby table, walking over to her. "Can we talk for a minute?"

"It depends what you want. I have to get ready for work in a couple of hours so I need to sleep." Santana let out a small grin.

"Well, that was kind of what I wanted to speak to you about…" Kurt sat down next to Santana, folding his hands on his lap. "I saw you get into a car last night—and you dressed promiscuously and…I just want to know…you're not a prostitute, are you?"

"Where did you get a stupid idea like that, Lady Hummel?" Santana furrowed her eyebrows, seeming a bit offended by the question.

"Well when you hop into a black Mercedes Benz wearing promiscuous clothing and bringing home $2,000 a night, then a guy would have to wonder." Kurt pointed out, then let out a sigh. "Santana, I just don't want you to do something stupid because you and Brittany aren't together. I mean, why would you want to have someone to cling onto? I'm perfectly happy without Blaine." The last sentence felt like a lie when Kurt said it, but he had to make sure that Santana wasn't doing something stupid because she didn't have Brittany.

"Kurt, I'm not doing something stupid, I promise." Santana let out a small smile. "Besides, why would I try to sell myself when I'm perfectly content with being single?" That part of Santana's statement also felt like a bit of a lie. Why was she saying that she was content with being on her own when she clearly missed Brittany?

"All right, well now that we got that out of the way, where were you really going?" Kurt asked.

"If you must know Kurt, I was heading to my job as a waitress at a bar. I get very generous tips." Santana shrugged her shoulders. Kurt let out a sigh of relief, going into the kitchen.

"That's a good thing, that's good." Kurt and Santana exchanged a smile but as Kurt headed into the kitchen, Santana's smile quickly turned into a small frown. She figured that now would have been a good time to get some sleep. She had a long night ahead of her.

* * *

During his lunch hour, Finn spent time in the library reading the journal from his father while Rachel had dance practice with Brody. Finn for once didn't mind Rachel being busy since he had a couple of answers he needed to get to the bottom to. As Finn skimmed the book, he began to feel empowered, realizing that his father was a hero at war. Sure his father lost his way towards the end of his life and ended up being dishonorably discharged, but the stuff Finn read made him realize that his father saved the lives of his fellow soldiers every day. Without him, the soldiers that went home would have most likely died. After reaching the last journal entry, Finn stroked his chin thoughtfully, reading the final words of his father's journal, his eyes swelling up as if he were about to cry:

"_Today was the day. The day I was told I was to be dishonorably discharged from the Army. How am I supposed to explain this to Carole? Or worse, how am I supposed to explain this to young Finn? I let down my own son and he's not even old enough to understand the severity of the situation. That is why I am leaving the journal to Finn when he gets older, whether I am around or not. I want him to be proud of his father, proud of the lives that his father saved, all before the darkness began to take over. I don't want him to end up the way I am, but I want him to one day to be a man. To fight for the ones that he loves. To never give up no matter how impossible the situation may seem. I may be heading down a dark path—but I hope that this journal can guide Finn into the light, so that he could see how important he will be in this world. How important he will be to someone and I hope that one day when Finn looks at his own children, he can tell himself that his father helped him guide him there, whether I'm there in physical form or not."_

Finn noticed the journal entry there and as he turned to the next page, he realized it was the end. He reached the end of the journal. Finn didn't notice it, but he had tears streaming down his cheeks, reading how his father had been a hero to everyone around him. Finn realized that his father wasn't a bad person, he made some bad mistakes. Although his father was dishonorably discharged, he saved so many lives and did so more good than bad. Finn then knew what his mission was after reading the book. He had to find a way to make his dishonorable discharge into an honorable one. And he wasn't going to stop until he achieved that goal, no matter how long it took.

* * *

After school ended that day, Brittany had sent Sam a text to say to meet her in the auditorium before Glee Club. Brittany stared at her watch, realizing that Sam was twenty minutes late just so they could talk. As Brittany shook her head, she turned around to see Sam standing there, entering the room and laughing at a text message that was from none other than Blaine.

"Are you having fun with Blaine?" Brittany curtly asked Sam, causing him to look up to her while he tried to stop laughing.

"Brittany, sorry…I was meaning to meet you here and…" Sam pointed to the phone. Brittany stood up from the chair, walking over to Sam with an angry expression.

"You know, I may not be bright at a lot of things, but if there's one thing I am bright in, it's seeing that someone is coming before me in our relationship." Brittany crossed her arms towards him.

"I'm sorry…but I was hanging out with Blaine. You understand right?" Sam let out a small grin but Brittany's angry expression didn't budge.

"No, I don't understand." Brittany shook her head. "If I asked Santana to be here right after school, she would be here right after school. To her my problems mattered. And I guess that my problems don't matter to you since you're so busy with your bromance with Blaine."

"Santana, Santana, Santana! Why are you constantly bringing up Santana?!" Sam yelled. "Are you still in love with her or something?!"

"You know Sam, I thought that I loved you…I really did." Brittany felt tears stream down her face. "I told Santana that I loved you and that you loved me…but this just became evident…you don't love me…and I don't love you." Brittany turned her back to Sam, walking to the entrance of the auditorium.

"So what's this supposed to mean? That we're done?" Sam yelled after her. Brittany didn't turn back to Sam, but instead wiped her tears.

"Yeah…we're over." Brittany croaked out, leaving the auditorium while Sam stared at Brittany. He was still in a bit of shock, trying to process what happened.

Brittany tried to keep the tears from falling as she ran to the bathroom, trying to avoid people from looking at her. When she entered the bathroom, she noticed that Marley, Kitty and Tina were in there, and when they turned to Brittany, they realized she was crying.

"Brittany?" Marley walked over to her friend while Brittany buried her head on Marley's shoulder. "Brittany, what happened?" Marley pulled Brittany into a comforting hug, letting Brittany cry. The others realized that they knew what happened—Sam and Brittany had broken up.

"Did Sam dump you?" Kitty asked, but that question only made Brittany cry louder.

"Really? You're not helping, Kitty." Tina scolded. Tina walked over to Brittany, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Brittany, what's wrong?" Brittany picked up her head, looking over to her girls.

"I miss Santana…" Brittany admitted, wiping her tears. "Sam just made me realize how much I miss Santana."

"Then you need to let Santana know how much you miss her." Marley softly assured her friend. Tina nodded her head in agreement while Kitty stared at Brittany with a softened expression—something that was odd even for Kitty.

"Brittany, look…" Kitty walked over to Brittany while the two cheerleaders stared at one another. "Sam didn't deserve someone like you…he didn't. Like you said, you're special…you're a unicorn…even though I don't know what that means. Look, if you miss Santana you have to tell her. We're not going to let this leave this room, but you're my friend Brittany, although I have the oddest way of showing it. I'm sorry things didn't work out between you and Santana and I'm even sorrier things didn't work out between you and Sam." Brittany stared at Kitty for a moment before wiping her eyes and letting out a small smile.

"Thank you…" Brittany softly said. Kitty let out a sincere a smile, giving Brittany a hug. "Can I ask you guys for a favor?"

"Sure." Marley nodded her head.

"I have a song for Glee Club…and I want to sing it. But I need your help."

"We'd be more than happy to help." Marley agreed, Tina and Kitty nodding their heads in agreement. Ten minutes later, Brittany, Kitty, Marley and Tina were sitting on stools, while Brittany sang to the Glee Club, the song in mind strictly for Santana, wishing that she was here at this moment to be with her, and that Brittany made one of the biggest mistakes in not letting Santana back in.

[Brittany]  
Last night I heard my own heart beating  
Sounded like footsteps on my stairs  
Six months gone and I'm still reaching  
Even though I know you're not there  
I was playing back a thousand memories baby  
Thinking about everything we've been through  
Maybe I've been going back too much lately  
When time stood still and I had you

[Brittany with Marley, Tina and Kitty]  
Come back, come back, come back to me like  
You would, you would if this was a movie  
Stand in the rain outside till I came out  
Come back, come back, come back to me like  
You could, you could if you just said you're sorry  
I know that we could work it out somehow  
But if this was a movie you'd be here by now

_[Santana]  
I know people change and these things happen  
And I remember how it was back then  
Wrapped up in your arms and our friends were laughing  
Cause nothing like this ever happened to them  
Now I'm pacing down the hall  
Chasing down your street  
Flashback to the night when you said to me  
That nothing's going to change not for me and you  
Not before I knew how much I had to lose_

_[Santana and Brittany with Marley, Tina and Kitty]  
Come back, come back, come back to me like  
You would, you would if this was a movie  
Stand in the rain outside till I came out  
Come back, come back, come back to me like  
You could, you could if you just said you're sorry  
I know that we could work it out somehow  
But if this was a movie you'd be here by now_

[Brittany]  
If you're out there if you're somewhere  
If you're moving on

_[Santana]  
I've been waiting for you ever since  
You've been gone_

[Brittany]  
I just want it back to the way  
It was before

_[Santana]  
And I just want to see you back  
At my front door_

_And I say_

_[Santana and Brittany]  
Come back, come back, come back to me like  
You would before you said it's not that easy_

[Brittany]  
Before the fight  
Before I locked you out

But I take it all back now!

[Brittany and _Santana_ with Marley, Kitty and Tina]  
Come back, come back, come back to me like  
You would, you would if this was a movie  
Stand in the rain outside till I came out  
Come back, come back, come back to me like  
You could, you could if you just said you're sorry  
I know that we could it out somehow  
But if this was a movie you'd be here by now

[Brittany]  
I thought you'd be here by now  
It's not the kind of ending you want to see, yeah

_[Santana]  
Baby, what about the ending_

[Brittany and _Santana_]  
Thought you'd be here by now

As soon as the song finished, the Glee Club started clapping for Brittany as tears went down her cheeks. Sam stared at her as if he felt a bit guilty for letting her go, but Brittany could have cared less about Sam. She was focused on trying to win back Santana, but how was she going to do that when Santana was all the way in New York and she was stuck in Lima?

* * *

"_I can sing high and sing low!_" Rachel sang while doing her normal scales while pouring herself tea in the kitchen. Finn had told Rachel to go home without him since there was something that he had to do, so Rachel took this as the perfect opportunity to do her scales and begin to practice for her _Funny Girl_ audition. As Rachel hummed her scales, the door opened to reveal Finn who had a phone book in his hand. "Hey, so are you going to tell me where you mysteriously went?" Rachel smirked. Finn turned to Rachel, taking the phone book to the kitchen and sitting her down. "What's going on?" Rachel wondered.

"I have some pretty big news." Finn let out a grin. "All right, so remember this morning I found my dad's journal? I started reading it during lunch and Rachel; you should have seen all the pictures and all the people he saved. The way he wrote that, it felt like I was there with him. I'm going to try to do something that's rare, even for the Army. I'm going to clear his name and get him an honorable discharge." Rachel continued to stare at Finn, a smile plastered on her face.

"Are you serious? You're going to try to get an honorable discharge for your father?" When Rachel saw that Finn wasn't kidding, she placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a confident grin. "Well then, I am 100% behind you the whole way. You do what you have to do Finn. Just so you know, you're dad would be so proud of you." Finn let out a smile, placing a kiss on Rachel's cheek.

"Thank you…it feels really good to have your support." Finn said. Rachel nodded her head, running her hands through Finn's hair.

"Well…we are getting married soon." Rachel laid her head on Finn's shoulder as he intertwined his hand with hers. It felt good that Finn had Rachel's support…but he knew that he had a long road before his dream actually became a reality. He was just worried that his dream and Rachel's dream wouldn't be on the same page in the future, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen.

* * *

_Song Featured: If This Was A Movie by Taylor Swift (Sung by Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez with Marley Rose, Kitty Wilde and Tina Cohen-Chang)_


	29. Finchel: All I Wanted

**A/N:_ Previously on Glee, Brittany found that Sam was putting her second for Blaine so with Marley, Tina and Kitty's assistance she broke up with Sam and realized that she wanted to be with Santana. Finn found a journal that belonged to his dad and now his new mission along with marrying Rachel and passing his final is to get his dad an honorable discharge. Kurt confronted Santana about her new job and Santana told him that she was a waitress, but Kurt's not sure if he believes her. I don't even believe her. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the song. Reviews keep the fire burning for this story and are very much appreciated. **

* * *

The next morning, Finn found himself walking along the hallways of NYADA, staring at the extra-curricular activities list. Finn was supposed to be on his way to the auditorium in order to start directing _Les Miserables, _but all the clubs the school had to offer intrigued him. There was fencing, figurative dance and of course, there was show choir—something that Finn was all too familiar with. As Finn looked through the papers, he noticed a familiar figure stand next to him—and it was none other than Cassandra July. Finn wasn't afraid to let out his disgust, so he let out a groan and started to head off to the auditorium.

"Where are you heading to?" Cassandra started to follow Finn towards the auditorium.

"What part of leave me alone don't you understand?" Finn began to sound annoyed.

"The part where you might want to know some juicy details about your fiancée." Cassandra smirked, causing Finn to turn around. Finn raised an eyebrow towards Cassandra, wanting to know what she meant.

"What?" Finn walked over back to Cassandra, becoming more and more interested in the information she had.

"You think Schwimmer loves you?" Cassandra smirked. "That day that she went to go see Wicked with Brody? She considered that a date—and she kissed him." Finn's eyes widened at Cassandra's information before shaking his head and scoffing.

"That's not true. Rachel would never do that." Finn shook his head and started to turn back around.

"Oh, it's not true? Why don't you ask Brody?" Cassandra smirked, walking past Finn and heading to the dance studio. Finn stood there dumbfounded, letting Cassandra's words sink in. He had to find Brody and try to figure this out—the kids could handle a couple of minutes without him.

* * *

Finn ran all the way to the dance studio where he found Brody staring at himself in the mirror, flashing his teeth and flexing his muscles. Finn didn't have time for Brody to go all body builder in the studio—he needed some answers.

"Brody, we need to talk." Finn's tone was far from friendly.

"And what do you want to talk about? That you don't like that I'm dancing with your fiancée for her final?" Brody rolled his eyes, still staring at himself in the mirror.

"How about the fact that you took her on a _date_ while she's with me!" Finn walked over to Brody, the anger building up in his body.

"A date? Oh, that thing Rachel considered it. Right." Brody nodded his head, sounding nonchalant.

"Why would you take my fiancée on a date?! I don't get it!" Finn found himself becoming angrier and angrier by the minute.

"Because she's smoking hot and doesn't deserve you." Brody turned around to look Finn in the eye. "Face it. She's Ms. New York. She belongs here. You're just a wandering nomad that still hasn't found his place yet. That's all you're ever going to really be Finn. A wandering nomad, lost in life. You don't have a place in this world and you might not ever have a place. Rachel needs someone with stability, and that someone is not you."

"And you think that you're better for her than I am?" Finn scoffed. "Just because you have abs and perfectly white teeth?"

"You left out better looking than you." Brody smirked.

"Rachel loves _me_ Brody, all right? She loves me. And guess what, she's done with you. I won't let her dance with you, no matter what." Finn seethed.

"Not even if her grade mattered on it? If you loved Rachel, you wouldn't want her to fail her dance final." Brody continued to look Finn in the eye. "The only way that she won't fail is if she dances with me. We know how much you hate her dancing with me Finn, but it's the only way. I'll spend as much time with her as possible and by the end of her final, she'll realize that she wants a real man…and not some little boy like you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go." Brody nudged Finn aside, walking out the door. Finn stood there for a moment with his hands in his pockets, his anger boiling and his mind racing. In an ill-timed manner, Rachel entered the dance studio to find Finn—and he didn't look all too pleased.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Rachel wondered, walking over to Finn. Finn turned around, giving Rachel a serious look, in which Rachel stopped in her tracks to stare at him.

"I need you ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me." Finn's tone was serious. Rachel nodded her head quickly while Finn let out a deep breath. "Did you kiss Brody?" Rachel's face softened, a guilty expression appearing on her face. Finn studied Rachel's facial expressions, realizing that everything Cassandra and Brody told him was the truth. "So you did kiss him."

"He kissed _me_." Rachel pointed to herself. "I thought that it was just going to be about the Broadway show but then he walked me to the train and then told me he thought this was a date and then when I was trying to tell him that I was in love with you and _then _he kissed me out of nowhere."

"You let him kiss you." Finn's voice became a little louder, which made it clear that Finn was fuming.

"What was I supposed to do, push him down the subway stairs?" Rachel tried to get Finn to reason with her.

"That would have been nice." Rachel didn't understand why Finn was being stubborn about it. It's not like she enjoyed the kiss at all. She wanted to be with _Finn_, not with Brody.

"Finn, I don't like Brody, okay? I love you." Rachel emphasized.

"Well, if you love me you have a very funny way of showing it." Finn shook his head, walking towards the door. "I don't want you dancing with Brody for your final." Rachel shook her head incredulously, not sure of what she just heard.

"Excuse me?" Rachel crossed her arms. Finn turned back around, nodding his head.

"You heard what I said. You have to pick between either him or me. If you want to be with me, then no more being with Brody." Rachel let out a fake laugh. Finn was trying to threaten her with an ultimatum.

"I don't know if it's hit you Finn, but you're my fiancé, not my father. You can't tell me who I can or can't hang around with." Rachel was now beginning to feel angry as well.

"So I'm supposed to be okay with you kissing Brody? Is that it? You want me to just sit here and say 'oh, it's okay Rachel. You can hang out with Brody all you want even though you kissed him. It's fine.' I don't think so." Finn shook his head.

"Can't you see what Brody is doing to you?! He's making you turn on me!" Rachel yelled. "And how did you know that Brody kissed me? Huh? Did Cassandra come along and tell you?" Finn thought about Rachel's words for a minute, then nodded his head without saying a word. "Let me guess, they told you that _I_ was the one that thought of the whole Wicked Broadway play as a date, and then they told you I kissed him? Was that how it went down?" Finn continued to stare at Rachel, seeing that her eyes were beginning to water. "And you just bought into their crap Finn. You bought into it! Cassandra has been trying to ruin me since day one and you're doing a great job in giving her the satisfaction that she's won! She made me miserable and right now, so are you." Rachel walked past Finn, the tears streaming from her face as she left the classroom. Finn watched Rachel walk down the hall, turning the corner as he felt the guilt build up in his heart. Finn walked out of the classroom slowly, spotting Ronald who was in his theatre class staring at him.

"Dude, that was the most epic argument ever." Ronald let out a grin. "Now, I get to have a chance with Rachel!' Finn simply patted Ronald on the back, shaking his head as he went to the auditorium.

"Not in a million years." Finn grumbled, heading to direct the school musical. He had kept the others waiting way too long.

* * *

Rachel tried her best to clean up her tears in the girls' bathroom while she stared at herself in the mirror. She had been trying to make it seem like she wasn't crying so that Cassandra wouldn't be able to pick on her. Alas, Cassandra entered the bathroom, noticing that Rachel was crying.

"Oh Schwimmer, what's the matter?" Cassandra tauntingly asked Rachel. "Did you and your precious fiancé get into a fight?"

"Yeah, thanks to you." Rachel retorted. Rachel started to head out the door but Cassandra realized that Rachel didn't just accept the taunting—she came back swinging.

"Hold up, did you just talk back to me?" Cassandra walked over to Rachel, staring her in the eyes.

"Yeah, I did talk back to you." Rachel growled. She knew that she should have stood up for herself when Cassandra heckled her and Santana in public, but now Rachel had enough of Cassandra and her antics. "And I'm tired of you trying to steal Finn for yourself. Get this through your head—you're an old hag. What do you want with an eighteen-year-old? He has a life, so you need to stop being a cougar."

"I thought that you were mad at him." Cassandra crossed her arms.

"I may be mad at him…but I don't need you trying to put a move on him. And I'm not going to let you dance with him during his final. Let's see what Carmen Tibideaux has to say about it." Rachel threw the paper in the garbage, heading out the bathroom door and letting it slam behind her. Cassandra crossed her arms, thinking of a new plan to get Rachel out of her hair. She needed to think of something and she needed to think fast.

* * *

Kurt skimmed through the television that afternoon, trying to find an afternoon program for him to watch while he waited for Santana to get out of her room. Kurt couldn't help but think about Santana's new job as a waitress. She said that she was working as a waitress and she wasn't a prostitute, but something was off about her story. Not even a waitress can earn money like that on tips alone, even if Santana was good looking. Kurt realized what he was going to do—he was going to follow Santana to work that day and try to figure out what she was. Kurt was knocked out of his thoughts when Santana came out of her room in her coat.

"All right, I'm heading to work." Santana said, looking at Kurt.

"Already?" Kurt wondered.

"Yep. It's going to be a long night at the bar, so I have to help out and take a double shift." Santana explained. She then grabbed her purse and started to head out the door.

"Santana?" Kurt started to say until Santana turned around to look at him. "You're not upset that I accused you of being a prostitute, are you?"

"Of course not Kurt." Santana shrugged her shoulders. "I mean I had to admit when I thought about it, it was a little suspicious. Well, I have to go. See you later." Santana gave Kurt a small wave and headed out the door. Kurt nodded his head, turning back to the window in order to look out. When Kurt noticed Santana heading down the street, he grabbed his jacket and started to head out the door. Kurt began following Santana all throughout Manhattan while he secretly hoped that he wasn't to get caught. The cat and mouse game ended by Wall Street when Santana entered a business building, with Kurt staring around the corner. After a moment of contemplating, Kurt entered the building. Kurt saw Santana enter one of the elevators and pressing the number ten. Kurt let Santana's elevator go by as he pressed the button to wait for the next elevator. After the second elevator came, Kurt pressed the floor number and when he finally reached the tenth floor, he realized something was a little off. There were a bunch of women dressing promiscuous on telephones and the conversations were not pleasant. As a matter of fact, the conversations were rather…dirty. That was when Kurt was able to place it all together. Santana wasn't a prostitute or a waitress—she was a phone sex operator! As Kurt looked around the room, he hid behind one of the corners to see Santana talking to someone who looked muscular and had perfect teeth. Kurt took one look at the person Santana was talking to and realized that the man was none other than Finn and Rachel's classmate Brody! Kurt quickly exited the floor without Santana noticing that he was there. He now knew Santana's new job—and he had to say that he was concerned.

* * *

Rachel attended her vocal technique class that afternoon, needing a distraction from Finn, Cassandra and Brody. She had spoken to Carmen Tibideaux about Cassandra forcing Finn to work with him for his final and she said she was going to look into it. Rachel had hoped for Finn's sake that Cassandra was put in her place—although she was still plenty mad with Finn. Rachel sat in her seat, looking over the lyrics she had chosen for class that day. Rachel looked through the lyrics with interest—until she noticed Ronald sitting next to her.

"Hello there Rachel." Ronald sprayed his mouth with some nasty substance, which made Rachel cringe.

"Um…hi Ronald." Rachel looked back to him, slightly annoyed. "I'm a little busy so I need you to please leave me alone so I can focus."

"I heard you got into an argument with your beloved Finn." Ronald almost seethed at saying Finn's name, and Rachel noticed.

"We're still engaged Ronald. Leave me alone." Rachel curtly answered, still looking down at her music. Ronald simply got up but as he was leaving, he gave Rachel a dreamily gaze.

"You're still a beautiful goddess even when you're upset." Ronald smiled. With that, Ronald headed towards the front of the classroom, taking a seat with his friends. Every now and again, they would stare over at Rachel, but she simply continued to look down towards her music as the teacher entered the classroom.

"All right, before we begin class I was told that Rachel had a song that she wanted to sing. Rachel?" Everyone looked to Rachel as she held the musical sheets close to her. Rachel stood up from her seat, going over to the front of the room, trying to plaster a smile on her face.

"This song is about someone who's close to my heart…and I want that person to know that no matter what happens, no matter who I hang out with…he's all I want in this world." Rachel nodded her head as the music started to play, but little did Rachel know that Finn was walking by the classroom and he heard every word Rachel had sung.

Think of me when you're out  
When you're out there  
I'll beg you nice from my knees  
And when the world treats you  
Way too fairly  
It's a shame I'm a dream

All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you

I think I'll pace my apartment  
A few times  
And fall asleep on the couch  
And wake up early to back and white reruns  
That escape from my mouth

All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you

I could follow you to the beginning  
Just to re-live the start  
Maybe then we'll remember to slow down  
At all of our favorite parts

All I wanted was you

All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you

As soon as the song ended, Rachel nodded her head and went back to her seat, not knowing that Finn had heard every word. Finn contemplated going into the classroom in order to talk to Rachel, but then remembered that he had to head to the auditorium in order to plan how to direct _Les Mis_. Apparently, talking to Rachel was going to have to wait until they both got home.

* * *

Finn entered the house that night after spending his free time assigning roles for who was going to be stage manager, prop manager, and all the other boring jobs no one else wanted to do. He had a long day and knew that his day would probably end with him sleeping on the couch after the argument he had with Rachel. Finn opened the door to find Rachel cuddled on the couch in her blanket while watching 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' with a boyfriend pillow around her neck. Finn walked over awkwardly to the couch, his hand stuffed in his pockets.

"Hey…" Finn softly said, causing Rachel to look at him with a soft look. "Is this seat taken?"

"Perhaps by my boyfriend pillow." Rachel emphasized on the boyfriend pillow that was around her neck. Finn sat down on the sofa, placing an arm around Rachel's shoulders.

"Why do you need a boyfriend pillow? Aren't I the next best thing?" Finn wondered.

"Well, I wasn't sure if we were talking still." Rachel shrugged her shoulders, looking Finn in his eyes.

"We are…and I'm so sorry Rachel." Finn looked at Rachel with an apologetic look. "I was being an idiot today. I shouldn't have listened to what Brody and Cassandra said and I should have known better." Rachel looked Finn in his eyes while a smile crept on her lips.

"I forgive you." Rachel leaned her head on Finn's shoulder as Finn removed the boyfriend pillow from Rachel's shoulder. "It just kind of hurt my feelings when you thought that I would have kissed Brody and then thought of everything as a date when you know how much I love you."

"I know, I know." Finn nodded his head, rubbing Rachel's shoulder with his hand. "And I was wrong and stupid. Do you know what made me realize my mistake? When I saw that you were singing in your vocal technique class and you looked so sure that I was the one that you wanted." Rachel looked into Finn's eyes as he smiled down at her. "I felt so honored in that moment and it made me realize I made the right choice in choosing who I'm going to marry. I'm so proud to be marrying you Rachel because all it takes is to hear your voice to make everything better…" Rachel leaned up to press her lips to Finn's, assuring him that all had been forgiven.

"I forgive you Finn, don't worry." Rachel grinned. Finn placed his forehead on hers as Rachel reached for the television remote to turn it off.

"What's the matter?" Finn asked.

"I only watch 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' when I'm depressed, and I'm not depressed anymore." Rachel smiled.

"That's good because I don't ever want to depress you or let you down, Rachel. I love you too much to do that." Finn said.

"I know you do…" Rachel leaned in and kissed Finn once more, removing her lips as he let out a grin.

"So now that we've made up, what do you want to do?" Finn wiggled his eyebrows causing Rachel to laugh.

"I think just cuddling tonight would be good." Rachel shrugged her shoulders. Finn pressed his lips to Rachel's, engulfing her in a sweet kiss before pulling her down with him on the sofa as they laid there in silence. After a while, Rachel fell asleep as Finn stared at his future wife, a smile creeping on his face. He had to be the luckiest man in the world. No, he _was_ the luckiest man in the world.

* * *

In his room, Kurt contemplated on whether or not he should make a specific phone call. He tapped his foot on the ground, still contemplating until he decided that he had to do this. Kurt dialed a number; put the phone to his ear as he waited for someone to pick it up.

"_Why hello there…_" A voice that sounded very familiar said in an erotic tone. "_How can I _assist_ you…?"_

"Hello there…Santana." Kurt crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowing. "As for assisting me, I believe you already did that…you assisted me in finding out your _real_ job."

* * *

_Song Featured: All I Wanted by Paramore (Sung by Rachel Berry)_


	30. Finchel & Santana: Mr Know It All

**A/N: _Previously on Glee, Finn found out that Brody kissed Rachel but Cassandra and Brody made it seem like Rachel made the move, so Finn and Rachel got into an argument. They were able to work out their differences though. Kurt followed Santana to her job and found out what she really works as, and the fact that Brody was the one that hired Santana in the first place. Brody is causing a lot of drama among everyone, isn't he? And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Reviews are appreciated. :)**

* * *

Kurt stared down at the phone after his phone call to Santana, realizing that he had to do something about her. Maybe he should talk to Finn and Rachel about what he just heard—and somewhat saw. Kurt walked out of his room and started to head to the living where he heard Finn cheering, Rachel groaning and cheering from the television. When Kurt reached the living room, he noticed that Finn and Rachel were in the middle of watching a baseball game—well, Finn was anyway.

"What's going on here?" Kurt asked. Finn turned around, putting the sound down for a moment.

"Rachel and I are watching baseball." Finn replied, but Rachel rolled her eyes while looking at her watch.

"Is it over yet?" Rachel groaned. Finn looked to the television then turned back to Rachel.

"Rach, they're only in the first inning…the top of the first…and there's only one out." Finn raised an eyebrow towards her.

"Well, this game is taking forever." Rachel groaned, putting a pillow over her face. Finn couldn't help but let out a chuckle at Rachel.

"You know babe, I'm not forcing you to watch the game. You can go do something else while I watch." Finn still had a smile plastered on his face. Rachel shook her head while folding her arms in her lap.

"No, I mean you sat through _Funny Girl_ for me. Now I have to do something that you like. That's the only way that our marriage will work." Rachel continued to stare at the television but after a moment, she grabbed the remote and muted it. "All right, I hate baseball."

"And that's fine. You don't have to sit here to please me, Rachel." Finn shrugged his shoulders, not seeing what the big deal was. "If you hate it, then you hate it. And for the record, I actually like _Funny Girl_."

"So if we watched _Funny Girl _all night, then you wouldn't mind?" Rachel mischievously smirked while raising an eyebrow.

"Well, a man has his limits. I think if I watched _Funny Girl _too many times, my head will explode." Finn joked. Rachel leaned over and pressed a kiss to Finn's cheek while Kurt watched the both of them.

"As adorable as you two are, there's something that I have to tell you." Kurt sighed. Kurt sat in one of the chairs near the sofa while Finn and Rachel eyed him.

"Something wrong Kurt?" Finn asked. Kurt let out a deep breath, debating whether to tell them.

"There is something that you have to know…it's about Santana and if I told you and she found out then she'd probably kill me." Kurt reluctantly stated.

"Well if it's about Santana then I feel like we have the right to know." Finn smirked, staring at Kurt.

"All right, this is going to sound awkward but…" Kurt looked around the room to make sure that Santana didn't come out of anywhere, especially since she wasn't in the house. "Santana's a phone sex operator." Finn's eyes widened while Rachel simply looked confused.

"Santana's what?" Rachel shook her head, unable to comprehend what Kurt just said.

"Wait, so how do you know this?" Finn wondered.

"Earlier, I followed Santana to work. And I must say, you're going to be shocked when I tell you who gave Santana the job."

"Oh, do we really want to know?" Rachel asked, seeming a bit unsure.

"Oh, you do want to know." Kurt said. "Brody gave her the job." For a moment, Rachel and Finn shook their heads, trying to make sure that they heard Kurt right. After they realized that they heard correctly, Finn stood up from the sofa, his fists clenched.

"When I find that little pretty boy, he's going to find himself locked in his car in the Hudson River!" Finn started to head towards the door, but Rachel put her hand on Finn's arm, which caused him to turn around.

"Finn, what good is that going to do?" Rachel asked. "Brody would be literally dead and you'd be in jail. Just calm down. We'll figure this out." Finn looked at Rachel's serious expression before letting out a sigh.

"Where's Santana now?" Finn turned to Kurt.

"She's at her _job_. She knows that I know…but you two don't know." Kurt emphasized. Rachel thought for moment, then looked to Kurt and Finn with realization.

"Does Brittany know about this?" Rachel wondered.

"Brittany? Why would Brittany know about it?" Finn didn't see where Brittany fit in all of this.

"Santana might still be hurt because of her breakup with Brittany." Rachel explained. "If Brittany doesn't know then this might be Santana's way of coping."

"Coping or not, I'm not letting Santana do this!" Finn began to turn angry again. "Santana is making a huge mistake, Rachel. And she needs to see that."

"And we know she's making a mistake Finn, but maybe we need Santana to learn on her own for this one." Rachel said. "If we tell Santana she can't do this, then she's only going to want to do it more. Trust me, I've read _Psychology Today_. I know what's going on here." Finn and Kurt hated to admit it, but Rachel had a valid point. Finn decided that he was going to let Santana try to figure this out on her own, but Kurt wasn't so sure. Santana already knew he knew—meaning he was going to try to talk to her when she got home. Finn went back to the couch to sit down and Rachel followed suit, deciding to distract them by putting the volume on and watching the baseball game. "They're only in the first inning still?!" Finn let out a smile while staring at Rachel, seeing that she beginning to look bored.

"All right, I'll let you two get back to your baseball game." Kurt let out a mischievous smile towards Rachel. Rachel stuck her tongue out towards Kurt as he went into his room as Finn laughed. He was so in love with Rachel that everything she did was funny to him, and he hoped that it would last forever. Rachel turned back to the T.V. and started watching the game, plotting an idea on how to annoy Finn.

"Ooh! Who's that guy there?" Rachel pointed, a smile appearing on her face. Finn turned towards the T.V screen, then back at Rachel.

"That? That's Derek Jeter. Why?" Finn leaned back on the sofa as he started to watch the game.

"He is so cute…" Rachel pretended to gush, which caught Finn's attention. "I mean, look at his eyes…and his chiseled body. He looks like he could be a lot of fun." Finn then scooted over next to Rachel as she continued to look at the television. "Can we go to a game just so I could shout his name the whole game? I'm pretty sure he'd like that." Finn took the remote and changed the channel as Rachel giggled.

"All right, let's get one thing clear. The only name I want to hear you shout like ever, is mine." Finn felt himself getting a little jealous of an athlete. An athlete that Rachel had almost no chance of meeting.

"What's the matter Finn? Are you jealous?" Rachel continued to giggle.

"Maybe…" Finn admitted. Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn's neck, letting out a laugh. "Maybe you should go back to sleep while I finish watching the game. I don't want you fawning over any other baseball players." Rachel noticed Finn pouting as she pressed a kiss on his lips.

"Don't worry." Rachel found herself sitting on top of Finn's lap, staring at him. "The only guy that I want is right in front of me." Finn's smile returned as Rachel pressed her lips to his once more. The kiss began to turn passionate, to the point where Finn reached for the remote to turn off the television.

"All right, screw the game. Let's go." Finn picked Rachel up, led her to their room, and closed the door behind him while Rachel let out a giggle.

* * *

Santana entered the house at three in the morning, rubbing her temples as she contemplated how Kurt could have figured out her job. How was Kurt so smart that he was able to find out everything? As Santana headed to the kitchen, she noticed the light turning on and Kurt turning around in his chair while wearing a tuxedo.

"Kurt, we're not copying the scene out of _The Godfather_." Santana went to the kitchen while Kurt let out a groan.

"Oh come on Santana. I worked hard on this." Kurt almost whined. Kurt headed over to the kitchen to see Santana drink a cup of water. His face expression then turned serious when he let out a sigh. "Santana, why did you lie to me about your job?" Santana knew that Kurt was going to want to talk about this, so she placed her cup down and stared at her friend.

"Because, it's not a job that I'm proud of." Santana admitted. "I mean, I know I make a lot of money and it's actually quite fun but…"

"It's not a job that Brittany would want you to do." Kurt said, hoping that he finished Santana's sentence.

"What does Brittany have anything to do with this?" Santana wondered.

"Admit it Santana, you're doing this because you miss Brittany. I mean, we all do things when we miss someone. Rachel watched nonstop movies when she missed Finn—and most of them had her curled up in a ball crying afterwards." Kurt said then realized he was getting off point. "Look, the point is that you can't keep doing this job. It's dangerous and you could get hurt."

"Yes because me sitting in a cubicle for six hours is going to get me hurt." Santana sarcastically said while waving her hand.

"Santana, I'm serious. You can get hurt…and Finn, Rachel or I don't want to see something happen to you." Kurt sighed.

"Well I don't know if you noticed Kurt but I'm a big girl." Santana grabbed her water cup, heading towards her room. "I think I can handle myself." Santana started to head to her room when she noticed Finn scratching his head and emitting a yawn.

"Santana? What's going on here?" Finn sleepily asked. "I have to be up in three hours for school."

"Nothing…" Santana quickly said, unknowing that Finn already knew Santana's secret. "I was heading to bed. Goodnight." Santana quickly squirted around Finn to head to her room while Finn looked over to Kurt.

"Don't play a saint." Kurt shook his head. "I could hear you and Rachel through my walls. If you banged that bed any harder against the wall, my wall would break." Kurt walked past his stepbrother, exiting the kitchen, as Finn looked embarrassed.

"Yeah, Rachel and I need to soundproof the room." Finn said to himself, going into the fridge to get a cup of water.

* * *

The next morning, Finn sat at the breakfast table eating a piece of toast while looking through his father's journal. Finn had read the journal multiple times over the past couple of days, but he was hoping that there was something that could have helped him in getting his father an honorable discharge. While Finn read the journal, he didn't notice a couple of arms snaking around his neck. Looking down at the hands he realized that it was Rachel's, allowing him to lean back slightly into Rachel's touch. Finn looked over at his fiancée while she let out a grin towards him.

"Good morning, my love." Rachel beamed while pressing a kiss to Finn's lips.

"Good morning, beautiful." Finn answered back. Rachel noticed the book in Finn's hand, pulling a seat up next to him as she watched him read.

"Is that your dad's journal?" Rachel wondered.

"Yep and I'm still wondering how I could get him an honorable discharge." Finn scratched his head. "I mean, the book here is a lot of good information, but I realize that it would just be the Army's word against my dad's." Rachel looked down at one of the pictures in the journal, reading the words underneath.

"What about this guy here?" Rachel asked, pointing to the picture with the guy and Finn's father. Finn looked down at the picture, his eyebrow raising.

"You think I should get in contact with him in order to talk to him about my father?" Finn asked. Rachel nodded her head, rubbing Finn's arm with a smile.

"I think you should." Rachel said. Finn contemplated for a moment then released a grin.

"All right, I will. I have to find out where he lives first, which is why I brought home the phone book the other day." Finn got up from the chair to get the phone book from the cabinet. Rachel wrinkled her nose while twisting her face in confusion.

"People still use the phone book?" Rachel sounded a bit surprised.

"Yes, and you should try it. There's a lot of numbers for places that I didn't know about. I spent my free period yesterday looking through it." Rachel took the phone book from Finn, trying to skim through it, before realizing that there was nothing really in it for her.

"I think I'll stick to Google." Rachel said. Finn let out a chuckle, wrapping his arms around Rachel while staring down at his father's journal.

"You do what you have to do." Finn smiled. "As for me, I have a lot of work ahead of me. Getting my dad an honorable discharge, planning our wedding, my dance final and directing _Les Mis_. That could add a lot of pressure on a guy."

"Well, just so you know, you never have to do everything alone." Rachel told him, staring in his eyes. "I could help you."

"You want to help me with everything? Rachel, I love you but I don't want to put that entire burden on you." Finn shook his head, but Rachel simply placed a hand on Finn's shoulder with a smile.

"I'll help you with whatever you need. I won't hover over you for everything but when you ask for help, I'll be the first one running." Rachel promised. Finn hugged Rachel tightly, staring down into her brown eyes.

"What did I do to get such a wonderful girl like you?" Finn wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe you're just awesome." Rachel smiled back at him. Finn pressed a kiss to Rachel's forehead, then looked over at the clock in haste.

"Oh boy, we're going to be late for school." Finn let go of Rachel as he ran to the room to get ready. Rachel looked down at her phone, letting out a smile in hopes that Finn would remember—

"Finn…it's Saturday. No School, remember." Rachel noticed Finn quickly walking back into the kitchen, looking slightly embarrassed.

"School's on Monday, isn't it?" Finn sheepishly asked. Rachel simply shook her head and planted a kiss on his cheek, never having felt more in love with Finn than she did in that moment.

* * *

It may have been Saturday, but that didn't stop Brody from entering NYADA in order to meet Cassandra in the dance studio. Brody was finding himself hating Finn more and more for being with Rachel, and for some reason he didn't think that Finn and Rachel were perfect for one another. He felt like they were too different. Now if Rachel was dating Brody, they could be the power couple of NYADA and nothing would stop them. First, he had to figure out how he was going to get Finn out of the picture. As Brody entered the dance studio, he noticed Cassandra stretching, in hopes of keeping her aging body flexible.

"Well, I didn't think you were so old that you had to work out on a Saturday." Brody quipped. Cassandra rolled her eyes, getting up from the floor to face Brody.

"Remember, you may be helping me but I still have to grade you in class so no quips about my age." Cassandra sternly said. Brody nodded his head while Cassandra tapped her chin thoughtfully. "So, were you able to distract that little busy body that came in here and stood me up in front of my whole class?"

"Yes I did." Brody smirked. "The business that I have on the side is so rewarding, and if Santana is willing to make more money, then she'll do whatever I say to get there. Now, how are we going to stop Finn and Rachel?"

"Oh, I'm still thinking of that. Schwimmer called me a cougar and Jack the Giant called me an ogre. I still want Finn to myself but he needs to realize that Schwimmer's just a girl."

"And how are we going to convince him of that?" Brody wondered. "Spring Break is next week and if there's one thing that I want, it's drama between them so that I could make my move."

"Don't worry, you'll make you're move, but first I have to make mine." Cassandra started heading towards the exit of the dance studio, turning around towards Brody. "We'll get those two broken up before the school years' over. I can promise you that." With that, Cassandra left the room, but little did she know, someone was watching them and they didn't like what was going on, at all.

* * *

Santana started running through the house, getting her jacket and purse in order for her to head to work. When Santana reached the living room, she noticed Kurt sitting on the sofa reading a book. She didn't know if she should say something to Kurt but when she was about to, she saw Kurt turn towards her, putting the book down and folding his hands.

"So are you going to _work_?" Kurt put quotation marks around the word 'work' to emphasize that Santana was doing wrong.

"As a matter of fact, yes I am." Santana nodded her head, going towards the door. Kurt let out a sigh, getting up from the sofa and heading towards Santana.

"Santana, what you're doing is dangerous! You have to stop doing this!" Kurt exclaimed.

"What if I don't want to stop doing this? What if the only reason you want me to stop is because you're jealous about my job how I get more money than you?" Santana crossed her arms, looking annoyed. "What if I like doing my job?

"Santana, from what I'm hearing from Finn and Rachel, Brody is bad news. He tried to break them up by kissing Rachel! He's not good; Santana, I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"Or maybe you need to stop telling me what to do. I'm going to continue doing my job and there's nothing that you could say or do to stop me. You may think you know me Kurt, but you don't know a thing about me." Santana headed towards the door in order to leave. A moment later, the door closed and Kurt found himself alone. As Santana got on the bus to head to work, she placed her headphones in her ear and found herself listening to a Kelly Clarkson song. Santana soon found herself dozing off and falling asleep, and the next thing she knew, she found herself in a music video scene, where she was singing to Kurt, letting him know that he didn't own her and that he didn't know her better than she knew herself.

_Mr. Know It All  
Well you, think you know it all  
But you don't know a thing at all  
Aint' that something y'all  
When someone tells you something about you  
Think that they know you more than you do  
So you take a pill like a pill to swallow_

_Mr. Bring Me Down  
Well you, like to bring me down  
Don't you  
But I ain't laying down, baby  
I ain't going down  
Can't nobody tell me how it's gonna be  
Nobody gonna make a fool out of me  
You should know that I lead not follow_

_Oh you think that you know me  
Know me  
That's why I'm leaving you lonely  
Lonely  
Cause baby you don't know a thing about me  
Baby you don't know a thing about me  
You ain't got the right to tell me  
When and where to go no right to tell me  
Acting like you own me lately  
Yeah baby you don't know a thing about me  
You don't know a thing about me_

_So what you've got the world at your feet  
And you know everything about everything  
But you don't  
You still think I'm coming back but baby you'll see_

_Oh you think that you know me  
Know me  
That's why I'm leaving you lonely  
Lonely  
Cause baby you don't know a thing about me  
Baby you don't know a thing about me  
(Oh you think that you know me, know me)  
You ain't got the right to tell me  
When and where to go no right to tell me  
(That's why I'm leaving you lonely, lonely)  
Acting like you own me lately  
Yeah baby you don't know a thing about me  
You don't know a thing about me_

_Mr. Know It All  
Well you, think you know it all  
But you don't know a thing at all  
Yeah baby you don't know a thing about me  
You don't know a thing about me_

Santana woke up from her dream when the bus made a slight halt, causing her to almost tumble over. Santana looked towards everyone else in the bus to realize that they didn't notice she almost fell. Santana dusted herself off and headed off the bus towards her work building. She had a long day of work ahead of her.

* * *

When Santana reached the apartment at the end of her workday, she noticed Kurt, Rachel and Finn sitting on the sofa and staring over at her. Santana realized by the Rachel and Finn's disappointed faces that Kurt had told them everything. They knew Santana's real job, and they weren't too happy.

"Kurt, you told them about my job? How could you?" Santana started to walk over to Kurt in anger.

"I think Finn and Rachel are least of your worries right now, Santana." Kurt said.

"What are you planning on doing then? Telling my mother?" Santana scoffed.

"Nope, someone much worse." Kurt nodded his head, looking towards the kitchen. Santana turned towards the kitchen and realized that standing right before her was Brittany—and she didn't look too happy at all. Instead, Brittany crossed her arms staring over at Santana, looking more than upset, she was furious that Santana had stooped to such a low level. Santana was in trouble now and she knew it.

* * *

_Song Featured: Mr. Know It All by Kelly Clarkson (Sung by Santana Lopez)_


	31. Brittany & Rachel: Circus

**A/N: _So here's what you missed on Glee. Santana's job is super dangerous and Kurt confides in Finn and Rachel about her job. When Santana doesn't listen to Kurt, she gets a surprise. She sees Brittany. Rachel recommends that Finn finds his dad's friend in order to talk about getting his dad an honorable discharge and Finn wants to use the phone book. Who uses the phone book anymore? And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Brittany…what are you doing here?" Santana dropped her purse, looking to the kitchen and still seeming surprised that Brittany was standing there.

"Kurt called me. I finally figured out how to use my cellphone and realized the red and green buttons didn't mean that my phone would turn those colors." Brittany then shook her head, walking over to Santana. "Santana, I'm here for an intervention. I know that we broke up and I know that it must have been hard on you, but this job isn't the answer. The Santana I knew wouldn't ever take this job. And I'm sure that Kurt, Finn and Rachel wouldn't want to see you get hurt by Brody. Kurt told me about that too."

"Well, the Santana that you knew is gone, Brittany." Santana crossed her arms while raising an eyebrow. "The old Santana died when you decided to date Sam."

"But I'm not with Sam anymore." Brittany's face twisted into confusion as Santana's face dawned with realization.

"Wait, you're not with Sam?" Santana shook her head. "I thought that you loved him."

"I thought so, but he kept putting me behind Blaine." Brittany shrugged her shoulders as Santana continued to look at her. Kurt tensed at hearing Blaine's name, something that Finn noticed.

"So you're not dating Sam right now?" Santana asked, feeling her heart palpitating while staring over at Brittany.

"No, I'm not dating Sam, didn't we go over this?" Brittany sounded slightly annoyed. "Look, you need to quit this job, Santana. If you don't then that means that you don't care about yourself and how you're degrading yourself. Now, I've said all I wanted to say. Is there anything else that you'd like to add to that?" Santana continued to stare at Brittany before grabbing her purse and heading towards her room.

"I'm going to keep working there. And there's nothing that you or Kurt or anyone else can do to stop me." Santana simply said before going to her room and closing the door. Brittany continued to stare at Santana's closed door, her face clearly hurt and upset. Rachel noticed the tension in the room as she got up from the sofa.

"Brittany, why don't we go to the kitchen and I'll make you some tea?" Rachel suggested. Brittany turned around and nodded her head towards Rachel as the two girls headed towards the kitchen in order to talk. Finn and Kurt looked at one another, feeling as if they failed Santana. They hoped that Santana would come to her senses soon. Her actions were affecting everyone around her.

* * *

In the kitchen, Brittany sat at the table as Rachel put two teacups down. Rachel had finished brewing some tea and was hoping that she could talk to Brittany about Santana. As Brittany gave Rachel a grateful grin, Rachel sat down in the chair next to her, looking her in the eye. Rachel was secretly impressed with Brittany when she was confronting Santana. Brittany seemed dense when there wasn't anything affecting her, but when something was bothering her, she would come out making sense. Rachel felt that Brittany made a lot of sense when it came to talking to Santana because Brittany haher.

"Is the tea good?" Rachel finally asked, seeing Brittany was taking a sip of the tea.

"Yep." Brittany nodded her head, smiling at Rachel softly. "Thanks for the tea, Rachel…also for paying for me to fly all the way over here. You didn't have to do that."

"Actually, I did." Rachel nodded her head, looking at Brittany in amazement. "I figured you were the only one that could actually get to Santana."

"But I didn't get through to her." Brittany sounded defeated. "I mean, I failed."

"You didn't fail." Rachel assured Brittany, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You did all that you could. It's not your fault that Santana's stubborn. You really love Santana, don't you?" Brittany thought for a moment then nodded her head.

"She's my best friend…and it took me a while to realize that I still need her. I was just a little too late." Brittany took another sip of her tea while Rachel thought for a moment.

"You know Brittany, we could still help Santana." Rachel let out a grin towards her.

"We can? How?" Brittany asked, raising an eyebrow towards Rachel.

"All we'd have to do is to go to her job and confront Brody. I mean, he's the one that's making Santana do this, so maybe we can go over there and get him to back off." Rachel suggested. "And I'd be more than glad to help you."

"You'd really help me?" Brittany wondered, her smile returning to her face.

"Yes, I would." Rachel promised. "We can stop by there tomorrow."

"Thank you Rachel." Brittany felt her smile widen as she hugged Rachel. Rachel embraced Brittany with a smile on her face. She had to figure out a way on how to get Santana to listen, and if this was the only way that it was going to happen, then so be it.

* * *

"I don't know, Rachel. I know you want to help Brittany, but are you sure confronting Brody is the right way to do it?" Finn sounded skeptical, as he and Rachel were getting ready for bed. Rachel was sitting in her bed, reading one of her textbooks for her midterm while Finn crawled into bed next to her.

"Finn, Santana needs some guidance and if Brittany is willing to be the one to give her guidance then who am I to tell her she can't. Besides, I want to help her. What if it was you in that position?" Rachel questioned.

"But I would never be a phone sex operator." Finn shook his head. Rachel put the book down and cupped Finn's face so that he would look at her.

"I know you wouldn't but if you were by example, I would do anything in order to help you because I'd look out for you. Santana needs someone to look out for her and since Kurt is having trouble looking out for her, Brittany is willing to step up and do it. I want to help her because Santana's my friend." Finn contemplated Rachel's words for a moment then nodded his head.

"I know. Just…be careful with Brody, okay?" Finn relented. "I still don't trust him and I know now that you don't either."

"I will be careful. I promise." Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's lips, before parting and going back to her book.

"Aw, come on. A kiss? That's all I get?" Finn slightly whined.

"I have to study. I have a midterm tomorrow." Rachel pointed down the book, plastering a mischievous grin on her face. "But if you let me study then I'll be sure to entertain you tomorrow."

"Deal." Finn put the covers over him and Rachel as he smiled over at her. "I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight." Rachel placed a kiss on Finn's cheek then looked over to her book. Unfortunately, while she was reading her mind wandered over to Brittany and Santana. She sure hoped that she was going to be able to help Brittany overcome this.

* * *

The next morning, Rachel and Brittany wandered onto the floor where Santana worked in hopes of finding Brody and ending this mess. As Rachel and Brittany looked around, they wondered how Santana could work in a place like this. Brittany shuddered, still focused on the fact of finding Brody. Rachel kept her eyes peeled, in hopes that she would see her classmate. Rachel turned to one of the cubicles and spotted Brody in there, talking to one of the women that worked for him, anger boiling through her body.

"There he is." Rachel pointed to Brittany discreetly.

"He looks like he could be an Abercrombie and Fitch model." Brittany gazed at Brody for a moment.

"Brittany, focus." Rachel snapped her fingers in front of Brittany to gain her attention. "That's the guy that has Santana selling herself."

"Right, sorry." Brittany refocused as the two girls headed towards Brody.

"Brody." Rachel said in a stern tone. Brody turned around as his eyes widened, seeing Rachel standing before him. Brody didn't recognize Brittany, but he sure knew Rachel. Brody shuffled his feet, continuing to look over to Rachel and Brittany.

"Rachel…Rachel's friend." Brody acknowledged them both before giving Rachel a surprised look. "Rachel, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here because we know what you're doing with Santana." Rachel strictly answered. "And I don't like what I'm seeing."

"You can't treat Santana like that." Brittany added. "She has more dignity than that."

"She does now?" Brody sneered, then became interested in Brittany. "What is your name again?"

"It's Brittany S. Pierce, and if you say it fast, it's Britney Spears." Brittany answered, looking as if she was proud with her name.

"Britney Spears? You mean that crazy artist who almost let a guy she knew for six months become in charge of her financials? That nutcase?" Brody scoffed. Brittany's face expression looked as if she was going to throw Brody against the wall. He insulted her idol! Ms. Britney Spears!

"You shut your mouth!" Brittany pointed towards Brody while Rachel rubbed her temples. She didn't come here for Brody and Brittany to get into a fight about Britney Spears.

"All right, the point of the matter is that you're using Santana and we want you to stop." Rachel pointed a finger towards Brody.

"But if I easily stopped then there would be no fun in my game." Brody smirked. Rachel had just enough of Brody, so she slammed her hand down on one of the nearby tables.

"I don't get what game you're playing, but this needs to stop!" Rachel shouted. "You're putting my friend in danger and that's not okay with us, right Brittany?" Rachel turned to Brittany but realized that Brittany was still huffing and puffing about Brody insulting Britney Spears.

"Britney Spears is _not_ dumb." Brittany huffed under her breath.

"So are we going to talk about Britney Spears or the fact that Santana is bringing in a lot of money for me?" Brody let out a smirk, turning his back on Brittany and Rachel. "Santana's going to move on up…and when she does, that will mean more money for the both of us. Santana has no dignity left and I'm willing to suck out the remaining dignity that she has left." Brody continued on his way, but Brittany's anger refocused on to the fact that Brody was planning on using Santana like she was a piece of tissue.

"Hey!" Brittany yelled out, walking after Brody. Brody didn't bother turning around for Brittany, so Brittany let out her inner-diva, using the chair that was near her to push into Brody. The chair knocked into Brody, causing him to fall down to the ground. As Brody tried to piece together why he fell, he turned his head to see Brittany slowly walking towards him, anger evident on her face. "When I call out to you, you're supposed to turn around. You got that?" Brody looked over at Brittany, sneering at the blonde.

"Oh, I'm scared of you. I really am." Brody smirked. Brittany turned her head to find that there was a whip in a case attached the wall, realizing that the way that she was going to show Brody that she meant business was if she turned into her inner Britney Spears. Brittany heard one of her favorite Britney Spears songs coming from one of the computers while the other operators stared at Brittany, showing Brody who was boss in the office.

[Brittany]  
There's only two types of people in the world  
The ones that entertain and the ones that observe  
Well baby I'm a put on show kind of girl  
Don't like the backseat, gotta be first

I'm like the ringleader  
I call the shots  
I'm like a firecracker  
I make it hot  
When I put on a show

[Brittany with male phone operators]  
I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins  
Spotlight on me and I'm ready to break  
I'm like a performer the dance floor is my stage  
Better be ready hope that you feel the same

[Brittany with operators]  
All eyes on me  
In the center of the ring  
Just like a circus  
When I crack that whip  
Everybody gon' trip  
Just like a circus  
Don't stand there  
Watching me, follow me  
Show me what you can do  
Everybody let go  
We can make a dance floor  
Just like a circus

Let's go

Let me see what you can do

[Brittany] (Rachel with male phone operators)  
I'm running this  
(Like, like, like, like a circus)  
Like a what  
(Like, like, like, like a circus)

[Brittany with Rachel and phone operators]  
All eyes on me  
In the center of the ring  
Just like a circus  
When I crack that whip  
Everybody gon' trip  
Just like a circus  
Don't stand there  
Watching me, follow me  
Show me what you can do  
Everybody let go  
We can make a dance floor  
Just like a circus

All eyes on me  
In the center of the ring  
Just like a circus  
When I crack that whip  
Everybody gon' trip  
Just like a circus  
Don't stand there  
Watching me, follow me  
Show me what you can do  
Everybody let go  
We can make a dance floor  
Just like a circus

Once the song ended, Brody continued to stare up at Brittany, having her undivided attention. After a moment, Brittany walked around with the whip in her hand, still staring over at Brody.

"Just remember one thing Brody…" Brittany said, looking over at Brody.

"What do you want me to remember?" Brody had to admit he was a little scared of Brittany at that moment.

"If Santana gets into any trouble because of you, I will take this whip and you won't like what I'm going to do with it." Brittany started to turn around as she put the whip back in the container. "One more thing; it's Brittany, bitch." Brittany started to walk towards the exit of the room with Rachel quickly following her. Brody kept his eyes glued to Rachel as the two girls left the room. He was hoping that Cassandra was going to be able to keep up with her part of the plan. He had to get to Rachel no matter what it took.

* * *

Finn spent a part of his Sunday at NYADA, practicing for his dance final that was coming up. He had to be perfect. If he wasn't then he could have failed and he would never be able to hear the end of it. Finn looked at himself in the mirror as he practiced for the dance final, but one person that he wasn't expecting to be there on a Sunday was Cassandra July. Finn seethed at the fact she was standing behind him, but he decided to ignore her, focusing on nothing but his dancing. As Finn continued to practice, Cassandra leaned against the wall, a smirk appearing on her face.

"You know Finn; did anyone ever tell you that you have a yummy body?" Cassandra smirked.

"Did anyone tell you that if you keep flirting with me then I'll file a sexual harassment report?" Finn retorted, looking back to the mirror.

"I don't see what you see in Schwimmer, Finn. I mean, she won't make it in this world." Cassandra looked at Finn, hoping that Finn would see it her way. Finn turned around, giving Cassandra his undivided attention.

"All right Cassandra, what the hell do you want?" Finn asked. "What else are you going to tell me about Rachel that has you so consumed in jealousy? You're just jealous that Rachel's better than you at everything. As a matter of fact, Rachel just might be better in bed than you."

"Would you care to find out?" Cassandra suggestively asked. Finn simply scoffed, turning back towards the mirror.

"I don't know what your problem is. Did you scare off every man that's close to your age?" Finn wondered, crossing his arms. "Just know I'm not interested, all right?" Finn turned back around towards the mirror but he had trouble focusing when Cassandra continued to stare at him. "Now, I have to practice for my dance final, so if you would be so kind to leave me alone so I can practice?"

"I wonder if you forgot that I'm your partner." Cassandra let out a grin.

"How could I forget?" Finn groaned. Finn noticed Cassandra coming closer and closer to him, until Finn couldn't take it anymore. "Okay! That's it!" Finn began to sound repulsed by Cassandra's advances. "I don't like you! I never will like you, okay?! I love Rachel and that's it!" At that moment, Finn didn't care if he was to get a bad grade for this class. He was tired of Cassandra harassing him and trying to break up him and Rachel. Cassandra moved her hair out of her face, turning around and leaving the dance room with Finn a little shocked that Cassandra didn't do anything to him. Finn decided that maybe it was time for him to go home to see how everything worked with Rachel and Brody.

* * *

Back at the Bushwick apartment, Rachel, Brittany and Kurt sat in front of the television watching a movie while Santana went to her job. Santana didn't know that Rachel and Brittany went to talk to Brody, but she was going to find out sooner or later. As the girls watched television, Kurt kept his eyes on Brittany.

"So Brittany, when do you go back to Lima in order to go back to school?" Kurt wondered.

"Well, there's no school tomorrow because Principal Figgins got an email from Kitty saying that if there was school tomorrow then Ke$ha would come and haunt him, and Principal Figgins is afraid of 'Ke dollar sign ha'." Brittany explained.

"Why doesn't that work in any other school?" Rachel pondered. Brittany shrugged her shoulders at Rachel's question, looking back to the T.V.

"Anyway, is anyone hungry? I'm making my world famous soufflé." Kurt got up from the sofa, walking over to the kitchen.

"Sounds great." Rachel nodded her head with Brittany agreeing. As Kurt went to the kitchen, Rachel and Brittany looked at one another while giving each other a smile. "I have to say Brittany; I was really impressed with the way you stood up to Brody today. He's such a creep."

"Tell me about it." Brittany nodded her head, a smile appearing on her face. For the four years she had known Rachel, this had been the first time the two girls had actually had a conversation where they both were content. Rachel's phone started to ring, grabbing her phone to see who was calling. She was hoping that it was Finn since he still wasn't home, but when it was a number that she didn't recognize, she decided to pick up the phone anyway.

"Hello?" Rachel said as she picked up the phone. After a moment, Rachel's smile faltered, gripping the phone as she got up from the chair. "Oh my god, is he okay?" After a couple more moments, Rachel clutched onto her stomach, having a look on her face as if she was going to be sick. "Okay and he's where? All right, thank you…" Rachel hung up the phone as Kurt came out of the kitchen.

"Hey, who was that?" Kurt wondered as he put the soufflé on the table. Rachel looked down at the phone, her face turning pale.

"That was the emergency room." Rachel tried to get the words out.

"Why was the emergency room calling? Did you visit the emergency room?" Kurt asked, putting a hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"No." Rachel shook her head slowly, trying to recompose herself. "They were calling about Finn. A car struck Finn when he was leaving NYADA. He's badly hurt, Kurt…"

* * *

_Song Featured: Circus by Britney Spears (Sung by Brittany Pierce with Rachel Berry and Phone Operators)_


	32. Finchel & New Directions: Sexyback

**A/N: _So here's what you missed on Glee: Rachel and Brittany went to confront Brody after Brittany found out that he was the one that had been putting Santana in danger. Finn had enough of Cassandra trying to seduce him so he made it clear he only loved Rachel. But then Rachel got a call from the hospital that Finn was hit by a car leaving NYADA. Makes you wonder who really did it, huh? And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, although I wish I did. Enjoy the chapter everyone! :)**

* * *

Rachel spent most of the night in the waiting area of the emergency room, hoping that she would get some information on how Finn was doing. She had to admit, when she first heard that a car had hit Finn, denial went through her body. She was almost sure that it was a mistake and that Finn would have been home any minute. After some time though, she realized that Finn really was in the hospital—and he really _was_ hurt. Rachel skimmed through her phone with the pictures of her and Finn, hoping and praying that she would be all right. She hadn't slept and she barely ate. All she wanted was Finn. Rachel didn't notice that Carole and Burt entered the emergency room, looking for her in order to explain what happened to Finn.

"Rachel, there you are." Carole let out a shaky sigh, obviously still worried about her son. "Did the doctors tell you anything about Finn yet?"

"Not yet." Rachel admitted, shaking her head. "I've been sitting here all night and they didn't tell me a thing. I don't understand, what could have happened to him?"

"Where was he?" Burt wondered.

"He was leaving NYADA when a car came around the corner, struck him and kept going." Rachel said. "The doctor told me that much, but I've been here all night wondering if there was more on him."

"Rachel, why don't you go and get something to eat?" Carole suggested.

"No…" Rachel shook her head. "I'm not leaving until I figure out what's going on with Finn." Burt and Carole couldn't help but marvel at how much she loved Finn. Before they could object, the doctor came out of the room, looking to Rachel, Carole and Burt.

"Is there any news on Finn?" Carole wondered, looking right at the doctor.

"As a matter of fact, yes. He's conscious but he's beaten up pretty badly. He might have a broken arm, but the good news is that he won't die. At least not from this." The doctor tried to joke, but no one found it funny.

"Can we go and see him?" Rachel asked.

"Sure, but you have to be quiet." The doctor instructed. "He didn't get much sleep because he was in so much pain." The doctor took Carole, Burt and Rachel to one of the rooms where they spotted Finn with a cast on his left arm, sleeping soundly. Carole walked over to her son, running a hand through Finn's hair.

"Oh, my poor boy." Carole whispered. Rachel walked over to see her fiancé sleeping, and she couldn't help but feel guilty that he was hit. It wasn't her fault that the car struck him, but she still felt bad.

"Finn?" Burt softly said, hoping to rouse Finn from his sleep. Finn opened his eyes slowly, using his right hand as a visor so he could see his parents.

"Mom? Burt?" Finn croaked out. Carole ran her hand through Finn's hair, giving him a sympathetic smile.

"We're right here honey…" Carole assured him. Finn tried to sit up in the bed, but he felt a coursing pain through his body, causing him to lie back down. "Don't move Finn. Don't you remember how you got here?" Finn tried to understand Carole's question then slowly nodded his head.

"A car hit me…" Finn muttered. He then looked around, not seeing Rachel from the position he was laying in. "Where's Rachel?" When Rachel heard Finn calling out for her, she walked over to him and placed a hand on his cheek.

"I'm right here." Rachel soothingly assured him, caressing his cheek. "Are you okay, Finn?" Finn looked over to Rachel, forcing out a smile.

"Other than being in terrible pain, I think I'll live." Finn slightly joked. Rachel let out a small smile towards him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "

"Do you remember what happened to you before you were hit?" Burt wondered, breaking Finn and Rachel's bliss for the moment. Finn raised an eyebrow as if he was thinking hard before nodding his head.

"I left NYADA to go home and as I was crossing the street a big black car came and hit me. I couldn't see who was behind the wheel. The next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital." Finn said. He then noticed Rachel's worried expression on her face, causing him to turn to his parents. "Mom, Burt do you think that I can talk to Rachel for a moment?"

"Of course sweetie." Carole placed a kiss on Finn's cheek while Burt softly patted Finn on his 'good' shoulder.

"If you want you can go back to our apartment." Rachel suggested. "Kurt and Santana are there."

"We'll do that." Carole agreed as the two parents left. Finn looked to Rachel, seeing that she was still a little nervous.

"Rach, I'm alive and I'm fine. Don't worry." Finn assured her, reaching out to take her hand. Rachel felt a tear stream down her cheek as she turned away from Finn.

"You don't get it." Rachel started to cry, keeping her eyes off Finn. "You could have died! I could have lost you! I'm shocked and amazed that you're sitting in this bed talking to me right now!" Finn understood Rachel's anger before nodding his head slowly.

"Yes, I'm alive…and you're right, I could have died." Finn pointed out before giving Rachel a serious look. "But the fact is that I am here and I'm alive. I feel like I didn't die because of you. Rachel, you made me want to keep fighting. And it's not like I was in a coma or anything. I was just struck by a car and my whole body hurts." Finn tried to make a joke out of it, but Rachel didn't really find it humorous. "Look, the point is, I'm still here and I'm going to stay here because you need me and you love me. You do love me, right?"

"How could you ask a question like that, Finn?" Rachel incredulously answered. "Of _course _I love you."

"All right then, that's my point. I loved you so much that I was willing to fight to be here with you." Finn looked into Rachel's eyes with a grin on his face. "I'm right here and I'm going to stay here for the rest of your life."

"You can't promise the last part…" Rachel shook her head, her voice breaking.

"I can't promise that, but I can promise I'll _try_." Finn continued to gaze into Rachel's eyes before turning his head to motion Rachel to come closer. "Now come over here and give me a kiss." Rachel felt the tears stream from her face as she leaned down to stare into Finn's eyes.

"I love you Finn." Rachel spoke while crying. Finn released a smile as he put his hand on Rachel's cheek.

"I love you too Rachel." Finn pressed a kiss to Rachel's lips as the two embraced. Once Rachel and Finn broke the kiss, Rachel couldn't help but smile at him. "What's so funny?" Finn wondered as Rachel started chuckling.

"Did I ever tell you that your kisses make me feel better?" Rachel ran a hand through Finn's hair while he shook his head.

"No, you never told me that." Finn placed his forehead to Rachel's, still looking into her eyes. "But guess what, now I know your weakness!" Finn then pretended to laugh like the villains in the superhero movies, as Rachel softly nudged him while rolling her eyes.

"Oh, shut up and kiss me." Rachel muttered before placing fluttering kisses on Finn's lips. In that moment, nothing mattered to Rachel or Finn except each other. As soon as Rachel removed her lips from her fiancé's she took the blanket and tucked him in the hospital bed, smiling down at him. "Get some sleep, okay? The doctor told me that you didn't sleep well." Finn nodded his head as he felt his eyes becoming heavy, sleep coming over him.

"I love you, Rachel." Finn muttered before falling asleep. Rachel sat in the chair, rubbing his leg while staring at him.

"I love you too, Finn." Rachel muttered. As Finn slept, Rachel's mind wandered on who was the one that had hit Finn with their car and then left the scene. She had a feeling that Finn wasn't telling the whole story to his parents. He knew who really did this to him and she wanted to do everything she could to put whoever did this away. Finn had been there for Rachel with her ordeal with Hunter. She now felt like this was her way to repay him—getting the person who hit her fiancé put in jail.

* * *

Blaine entered McKinley on Tuesday morning feeling as if he had a sense of purpose. Regionals were next week and the New Directions needed their set-list to be done by the end of the day. Blaine walked to the Glee room to find his group, working on the set-list. It had to be perfect so when the alumni came to visit, they could polish their singing and be on their way to another first place trophy. Blaine took a seat next to Brittany who was drinking an extra-large cup of coffee. Blaine knew that Brittany must have had an eventful weekend, but he wasn't in the mood to discuss. Right now, he was focused on Regionals. Since Mr. Schuester wasn't there, Blaine put his bag down and went to the front of the room to get the New Direction's attention.

"All right, now we need to start preparing for Regionals." Blaine got everyone's attention. Everyone looked at Blaine who felt like the world was on his shoulders. "So what songs or bands do we have in mind for Regionals?"

"How about Wannabe by the Spice Girls?" Sugar raised her hand in the air while the other Glee Clubbers stared at her. "But I would have to be Posh Spice since Marley isn't skinny enough to be here." Marley looked visibly offended by Sugar's comment, but Sugar simply shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "I have self-diagnosed Asperger's meaning that I could say whatever I want."

"So you mean you don't have Asperger's?" Marley shook her head, looking annoyed.

"I do have it. Oh and also your hair color looks like a bad dye job." Sugar shrugged her shoulders as if Marley's reaction meant nothing to her.

"Okay, Sugar." Blaine put his hand up in order to get everyone's attention. "Spice Girls, we'll keep that in mind."

"How about the Jonas Brothers." Marley suggested.

"They can't be the Jonas Brothers." Brittany shook her head, looking to Marley. "One of them is a girl."

"How is one of them a girl?" Kitty raised her eyebrow, looking to Brittany.

"The one with the curly hair. Isn't that a girl?" Brittany wondered.

"Oh brother." Kitty slapped her hands into her forehead.

"Nick Jonas is not a girl." Marley explained to Brittany softly. "He just has curly hair. Saying Nick's a girl is like saying Blaine's a girl because of his hair."

"All right, the Jonas Brothers." Blaine interrupted the conversation to write their names on the whiteboard. "Anyone else?"

"We could do gospel music." Joe shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't have to do with alcohol consumption or sexual relations."

"If I wanted to hear or sing gospel music, I would hear Nicki Minaj complain about how Curtis Finch Jr. was kicked off _American Idol_ every week." Kitty rolled her eyes, staring at Joe. "He made 'I Believe I Could Fly' sound so gospel, it could be played in my nana's church."

"All right, Joe…apparently gospel isn't a popular choice among the New Directions, but we'll put that in the suggestion box for possibly Nationals." Blaine said. "Is there anyone else we should do?"

"How about Chris Brown?" Jake raised his hand. "I could do a sick duet with Artie on 'Wall to Wall'."

"Don't make me slap you." Brittany looked to Jake, raising her hand towards him. Jake noticed the uncomfortable glances of the girls before he let out a sigh.

"Fine, I guess no Chris Brown although he has great music." Jake rolled his eyes, focusing back on Blaine.

"Anyone else have any ideas?" Blaine wondered.

"How about Lady Marmalade?" Kitty suggested. "It's a great song."

"That talks about sex, and I wouldn't be comfortable with that." Joe interrupted.

"But the song is for girls, so it's not like you would be singing it." Kitty retorted back.

"I just don't think it's appropriate for Regionals." Joe simply stated.

"Don't make me cut off all your dreadlocks." Kitty squinted her eyes towards Joe, which made him suddenly quiet down. The bell rang and all of New Directions got up from their seats to go to their first class.

"Remember, the Jonas Brothers are misleading because one of them is a girl." Brittany mentioned to Blaine while heading out of the classroom. Blaine rubbed his temples, becoming more and more frustrated with the fact that he wasn't able to come up with a set-list for Regionals. It was only a week away and everyone was more into drama and arguing over whether the Jonas Brothers were all boys or not. Blaine needed to think of something for Regionals…and he had to think fast.

* * *

Rachel sat in the hospital chair next to Finn's bed while he was waiting for the nurse to bring him lunch. Finn had made it through the night without much issue and the nurse decided that it would have been a good idea to get him something to eat. Finn continued to look a bit impatient, something that Rachel noticed.

"Finn, you're going to eat in a moment. Can you stop looking so impatient like a three year old?" Rachel couldn't help but chuckle at her fiancé.

"I don't know if you noticed Rachel, but I haven't eaten since yesterday." Finn playfully retorted, sticking his tongue out at her. "So don't blame me if I want chocolate pudding."

"You know you have to eat real food, right?" Rachel smiled at him. "So no pudding until you eat all your food."

"Yes mom." Finn pretended to pout. Rachel put her hand in Finn's, giving him a warm smile.

"How are you feeling today?" Rachel wondered.

"I'm in a little bit less pain." Finn admitted. "I'm still sore everywhere but the doctors think that I'll be able to get up and walk around soon. But, everything just hurts. My back is killing me, my arm is killing me, my whole body felt like it was run over by a huge truck."

"Well, it's understandable." Rachel continued to stare at him. "You were hit by a car after all." Finn looked down at the bed sheets, avoiding Rachel's gaze. Rachel had been meaning to ask him what had happened the day before yesterday when he was hit. Rachel had a feeling that Finn knew who hit him, but was afraid to say. Rachel let out a soft sigh, toying with Finn's fingers in her own. "Finn, I know that yesterday when you were talking to your parents you weren't being very honest."

"What do you mean?" Finn tried to play dumb. "I really am in pain."

"I know that part, and I know you're telling the truth there." Rachel said before getting to her point. "But, when you were describing what happened to you and what you remembered, I know that you saw the person who hit you. I could tell when you were talking to your parents. Finn, I need you to tell me the truth. Who was the one that ran into you? Who was the one that did this to your body? I need to know so we can press charges. They could have killed you." Finn contemplated whether to tell Rachel, wondering if he should tell her the truth. After a moment, Finn let out a sigh, shaking his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Finn simply said, lying through his teeth.

"Finn, tell me what happened to you. Please." Rachel sounded a bit anxious. "I need to know what happened to you Finn. Tell me who did this and I can help you. I know you know, and there's no way that you can lie to me." Finn continued to stare at Rachel, seeing that she was getting up from her chair. "If you do not tell me what's going on, then I will leave out that door and I will not come back. You have a choice, Finn. Tell me or else I'm leaving." In reality, Rachel wouldn't leave Finn but she had to give him an ultimatum in order to get him to tell the truth. If he truly loved her, he would tell her. Finn let out a sigh of defeat, prompting Rachel to sit down.

"Rachel, I'm afraid that if I tell you, you're going to do something drastic." Finn spoke.

"So? You took drastic measures in protecting me from Hunter." Rachel didn't' see the point. "Now I'm here for you. Finn, one of the vows is 'for better or for worse'. I'm going to be there for you and I will do anything for you. I need you to be honest with me though." Finn thought for a couple moments more, nodding his head. He had to tell Rachel the truth. He had to.

"If you want to know who hit me with the car…it was Cassandra." Finn admitted. Rachel's face twisted into rage, hearing the cold-hard truth.

"Cassandra? Cassandra did this to you?!" Rachel shook her head. "Why would she do that to you?"

"Because I wouldn't sleep with her, that's why!" Finn yelled back, feeling embarrassed. "She wanted to sleep with me and I said no. So when I left NYADA and crossed the street, she came out of nowhere with her black Denali and struck me with the car. She then drove off and the next thing I knew, I was here. I remember who hit me, but it's too painful to remember. She wanted to kill me so that Brody would have you all to himself. They're trying to kill me, Rachel!" Finn felt the tears stream down his face as he buried his head into his hand. It broke Rachel's heart to see Finn cry, making her feel guilty that she pressured Finn to tell her the truth.

"Was Brody there when you were hit?" Rachel whispered. Finn slowly nodded his head while crying as Rachel felt a pit go to her stomach.

"Brody was sitting in the passenger's seat when Cassandra hit me." Finn croaked out. Rachel rubbed Finn's back soothingly as he cried; assuring him that everything was going to be okay. "Ever since I started going to school there, Cassandra has been making my life hell! She's been trying to get to me. I don't know how you do it. You're so strong against Cassandra, but she's breaking my spirit. She's making me feel like no matter what I do, she's going to get away with what she's done."

"She's not getting away with this." Rachel shook her head. "She went too far. She tried to kill you! She can make fun of me all she wants, but when she physically tries to hurt you, that's when the cat claws come out. I'll show her that she messed with the wrong girl. No one messes with Rachel Berry's fiancé. And I mean no one."

"How are we going to stop her though? She's unstoppable?" Finn asked, sounding frightened.

"We're going to do something about it. NYADA has cameras. If I can get the tape of her hitting you with her car then she'll go to jail faster than you can say 'NYADA'."

"You think this is going to work?" Rachel ran her hands through Finn's hair, a smile appearing on her face.

"I'm positive. She's chosen the wrong girl and her fiancé to mess with." Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's forehead, which made Finn feel slightly better. "Don't worry. I won't leave you, ever."

"But you threatened to leave me five minutes ago." Finn pointed out.

"I was bluffing." Rachel smiled. "That was to get you to tell me the truth. Even if you didn't tell me the truth, I would have stayed."

"You outsmarted me." Realization dawned upon Finn. "Hot damn…" Rachel's smile didn't falter as Finn raised an eyebrow.

"If I wasn't stuck to this bed and in terrible pain, I so would have made love to you right now. That was sexy." Finn chuckled.

"Well, that's me. I am very smart." Rachel said, leaning onto Finn but trying not to crush him. "Do you think you'll be okay with going to Lima when you get out of the hospital?"

"Of course." Finn quickly said. "There's no way I am missing the Glee Club perform at Regionals. They're going to rock."

"Yes, they are." Rachel giggled, pressing a kiss to Finn's cheek. Rachel and Finn turned their heads to the nurse entering the room with Finn's lunch, giving the couple a smile.

"I see you're feeling better Mr. Hudson." The nurse quipped, putting Finn's lunch tray in front of him. "Enjoy your lunch." The nurse quickly turned on her heels, heading out of the room.

"Well, Mr. Hudson you better eat your lunch." Rachel playfully took Finn's pudding and went to sit in her seat. "And there will be no pudding for you until you eat all your food." Finn nodded his head, leaning his head back on the backboard.

"All right, I won't eat my pudding before I've actually eaten, but would you mind helping me? I only have one working arm right now." Finn asked. Rachel got up from the chair and started to prepare Finn's tea while he used his good hand to eat his potatoes.

"How's the food?" Rachel asked. As soon as Finn put the potatoes in his mouth, he went to the napkin and spat the potatoes out of his mouth.

"This is terrible." Finn sounded almost disgusted. "Are you sure I can't just have my pudding?" Seeing Finn's pleading face was enough to make Rachel's heart melt. She slyly handed Finn his pudding then released a grin.

"All right then." Rachel said. Finn grabbed the pudding from Rachel, trying to enjoy the goodness of it. "Does the pudding taste better than the actual food?"

"Of course." Finn nodded, looking at the pudding. "It's name brand." Rachel giggled at Finn while he continued to eat the pudding, but her mind wandered over on how she was going to get Cassandra and Brody to confess to what they had done. She knew that they both would have been one-step ahead of her, so Rachel had to plan how she was going to be one-step ahead of them. The question was how was that going to happen?

* * *

All right, I think I have an idea for a song that we could do for Regionals." Jake and Ryder led Blaine to the auditorium, sitting him down while the others let out a smile.

"All right, what was your thinking?" Blaine asked. They all gave each other a look, going over to the stage while Blaine watched the New Directions perform one of their songs they had planned. Blaine had to admit the song wasn't a bad choice…but was it appropriate was the question.

[Jake]  
I'm bringing sexy back  
Them other boys don't know how to act  
I think you're special, what's behind your back  
So turn around and I'll pick up the slack

[Ryder]  
Take em' to the bridge

[Artie]  
Dirty babe  
You see these shackles baby  
I'm your slave  
I'll let you whip me if I misbehave  
It's just that no one makes me feel this way

[Ryder]  
Take em' to the chorus

[Artie]  
Come here girl

[Jake]  
Go ahead be gone with it

[Artie]  
Come to the back

[Jake]  
Go ahead be gone with it

[Artie]  
VIP

[Jake]  
Go ahead be gone with it

[Artie]  
Drink's on me

[Jake]  
Go ahead be gone with it

[Artie]  
Get your sexy on

[Jake]  
Go ahead be gone with it

[Artie]  
Get your sexy on

[Jake]  
Go ahead be gone with it

As soon as the song ended, Blaine seemingly looked uncomfortable. That song was a good song if it were 'Sexy Week' but for Regionals, that song wouldn't be a good song—at all.

"I think we're going to scare everyone with that." Blaine admitted. "We need to get back to the drawing board."

"I'm just wondering, who died and made you leader?" Kitty raised her hand, staring over at Blaine.

"I am the New Rachel after all, and while Mr. Schue is gone for the day, I believe that I have the authority to say we're not doing Justin Timberlake."

'But J.T. is where it's at?" Jake retorted.

"I have to agree with Puckerman here." Kitty looked down to her perfectly manicured nails. "I mean, that magic sex dance the boys did made me feel a little something and it will make all those other girls in the audience feel something."

"And we will lose." Blaine harshly answered. "So if you want to win and prepare for Nationals, we'll do it my way. I've actually been on a group that has won. Have you? No. So we're doing it my way or it's no way."

"You know, last time I checked, we won Regionals and Nationals because of _Rachel_ and _Finn_. Not because of you." Artie countered. "So we'll just see what Rachel and Finn have to say when they get here in a couple of days." Artie began to wheel away, everyone else following suit. Blaine turned around to see that he was all alone. He'd show New Directions. He'd win Regionals for them, and when he did they would be sorry for ever doubting him. Just they wait…

* * *

_Song Featured: Sexyback by Justin Timberlake feat. Timbaland (Sung by Jake Puckerman, Artie Abrams and Ryder Lynn)_


	33. Finchel & Santana: I Love Rock N' Roll

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Finn told Rachel that he really knew who hit him, and told her that it was Cassandra and Brody, allowing Rachel to plot on how to get revenge. Blaine decided to take over trying to plan Regionals and dissed Justin Timberlake, causing the others only worry about what Rachel and Finn thought when they'd get there in a couple of days. Crazy, right? And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, but I wish I did. **

* * *

"We're almost there…" Carole said to Finn as they went towards Finn and Rachel's Bushwick apartment. Finn was released from the hospital the next day, but the immense pain was still there. Finn looked up towards the building, taking small steps as he entered the lobby of the building, feeling Rachel's comforting hand placed on his back. It took a while, but Carole, Burt and Rachel were able to get Finn upstairs and onto the sofa. Finn let out a sigh of relief, then looked to his parents while trying to fake a grin. He didn't need to see them at his lowest hour. "Are you okay, honey?" Carole ran a hand through Finn's hair, as he nodded his head slowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Finn guaranteed his mother.

"Well, we have to head up to Washington so if you need anything Finn, do not hesitate to call." Burt put a hand on Finn's shoulder.

"All right Burt, I will." Finn assured him. Carole was about to say something until she noticed a leather notebook sitting on the coffee table, a book that looked rather familiar to her. Carole walked over to the book to pick it up; skimming through it to realize that it was her deceased husband's journal.

"Finn? Where did you get this?" Carole wondered, pointing to the book.

"I found it in my drawer with my clothes when I was about to leave for school one day." Finn answered, not seeing the point. "Why, is something wrong?"

"Nothing it's just…this is your father's old journal and this…" Carole began to feel her eyes water as she looked down at the pages. "These were all these memories that he had when he was in the army. He was such a good person."

"Yeah, I'm still a little confused as to how it got in my stuff though." Finn disclosed.

"Yeah, that might have something to do with me." Burt admitted, causing everyone to turn to him.

"You? What are you talking about?" Finn wondered.

"I thought that you would have wanted a piece of your past in New York with you, so I put the journal in your suitcase. I figured you would read it sooner or later." Burt stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking at Finn. "If I crossed a line in any way, I'm sorry."

"No, you didn't." Finn said, looking back to the book. "I was actually planning on getting in contact with that guy that's in the picture with my dad."

'What for?" Carole looked from the book to her son.

"I read dad's journal and I was so inspired, that I felt he didn't deserve a dishonorable discharge. So right now, I'm trying to find a way to get him an honorable discharge after reading about all the lives he saved." Finn explained. "He shouldn't be judged for something towards the end of his life when he did more good than bad. He made some mistakes, but he was human. We all make mistakes. But, does that mean that we should define a person by the error they made when we know that they had good in their heart?" Carole and Burt appeared shocked towards him, never hearing Finn speak with such passion and thoroughness. Carole sat on the sofa next to Finn, putting a hand on his leg.

"I am so proud of you for wanting to do this for your dad, Finn." Carole smiled.

"And if there's anything you need, just say the word." Burt added, showing his support.

"Well, I need to find that guy in the picture. If I can talk to him and get him to speak up about the good my dad's done, then I have a chance." Finn looked towards the book. Finn noticed that Rachel was walking towards him with a slight smile on her face. "Rachel, is there something you're not telling me?" Rachel took a piece of paper out of her pocket, handing it to her fiancé.

"When visiting hours were over last night, I came home and searched for him. His name is Malcolm Reese and he lives in Lima, Ohio." Rachel explained. "I gave him a call and he's willing to talk to you if you want." Finn continued to stare into Rachel's eyes, seeing that she was serious. Finn took his hand and held Rachel's in his, tears coming to his eyes.

"Thank you." Finn was able to get out while Rachel stared back at him. Carole and Burt stayed for a moment longer before deciding that it was time to head out to Washington. As soon as they left, Rachel and Finn eyed one another as Rachel slowly made her way to the couch to sit with him. "How long were you planning this?"

"Well I needed something to do in the meantime while you were in the hospital, so this was my gift to you." Rachel beamed. "I hope that this helps." Finn looked towards Rachel with a grin appearing on his face, feeling so grateful in that moment.

"I love you, Rachel." Finn said as he pressed his lips to hers.

"Good, because I love you." Rachel spoke as soon as they parted. Finn laid his head on Rachel's shoulder as the two of them sat on the couch, watching a program that Rachel had put on the television. Finn tried to keep his eyes open, but he found that he was getting sleepier by the moment. The next thing Finn knew, he had fell into a deep sleep on Rachel's shoulder as she turned to him, feeling content. Rachel tried to move Finn from her shoulder to lie on her lap, just so he would be comfortable. She then placed a kiss on Finn's forehead, massaging his hair while she continued to watch television. The quiet didn't last for long when Santana entered the apartment looking as if she had a rough day at work.

"I can't believe this!" Santana bellowed, entering the living room. "Today has been the most horrible day of my life!"

"Santana, Finn just went to sleep. Do you mind if you could keep it down?" Rachel raised an eyebrow and spoke in a motherly tone.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize that Frankenteen was five and that he needed naps." Santana sarcastically answered.

'"He does when he hasn't slept well in three days. Especially after Brody and Cassandra hit him with a car twice the size of him." Rachel retorted, clearly not in the mood for Santana's snippiness. Santana began to look serious when she walked over to Rachel.

"Wait, what happened to Finn?" Santana sat down on the opposite side of the sleeping Finn while Rachel ran a hand through her hair.

"Finn said when he was leaving school, Cassandra came out of nowhere and hit him with her car—and Brody was in the passenger's seat." Rachel explained.

"How sure is Finn that Brody was the one that was there?" Santana asked.

"He sounded pretty sure. And I believe him." Rachel firmly said. "I mean, there's no reason for Finn to lie. I believe Brody is just as creepy as Finn says, and when I get that tape and find out that Brody and Cassandra did what they did, they'll be arrested so quickly that they won't know what hit them."

"Rachel, this is a serious accusation that Finn is making." Santana shook her head, still not believing that Brody was behind it. "What if Finn was being delusional and only saw what he wanted to see?"

"Finn was sure with what he saw." Rachel firmly stated. "And what he saw was Brody and Cassandra in a black Denali, right before he was crushed. Santana, you need to quit your job. It's not safe." Santana's expression turned into anger once again, unsure why Rachel was bringing this up.

"First Kurt, then Brittany, now you." Santana got up from the sofa, heading towards her room.

"Santana, Brody is a dangerous person." Rachel spoke in a stern tone. "He did something to Finn and I'm almost sure that he's going to do something to you. You need to quit."

"The day I quit my job is the day that it snows in August in the city." Santana headed to her room and closed the door, as Rachel sat there feeling helpless. Rachel leaned back on the sofa, still massaging Finn's hair, but little did Rachel know, Finn was awake, and he had heard Santana questioning his integrity. Finn closed his eyes, trying to go back to sleep but the thought that Santana swore that Finn was lying ate him up inside.

* * *

About two hours later, Finn opened his eyes from his nap, seeing that Rachel was no longer on the couch. Finn sat up, looking around for his fiancée, wondering where she could have gone. Just as he was about to get up from the sofa, Rachel came in with some food for the both of them. Rachel's smile appeared, seeing that Finn was wide-awake.

"Hello there sleepyhead." Rachel placed a kiss on Finn's forehead, handing him a bowl of soup. "You were knocked out so I decided to make dinner."

"You made it from scratch or from a can?" Finn cheekily asked. Rachel rolled her eyes with a smirk appearing on her face.

"Fine, I made it from the can. It was the easiest way to make dinner." Rachel protested in return. Finn cracked a smile then took a sip of his soup as Rachel sat down next to him. She continued to gaze at him, seeing that he was beginning to look quite uncomfortable. "Finn, is everything okay?"

"I heard what Santana said to you earlier when you thought I was sleeping." Finn abruptly admitted.

"What?" Rachel shook her head, not understanding what he was saying.

"I know Santana thinks that I'm some sort of liar." Finn repeated, looking over to Rachel. "You don't think that I'm lying about what I saw, do you?"

"Of course not." Rachel assured her fiancé, putting a hand to his cheek and stoking it gently. "I know you're not lying to me. But just before I go to the police with this, are you sure Brody was the one that was with Cassandra in the car?"

"I'm a thousand percent positive." Finn nodded his head. "I mean, I wasn't hit by the car when I looked through the window. Rachel, I wouldn't lie to you."

"I know you wouldn't…" Rachel said. She smiled at her fiancé, giving him a reassuring beam. After a moment, Finn relaxed somewhat and stared back at his dinner.

"Can you help me eat this? I'm still a little sore." Finn wondered. Rachel put her bowl down and took Finn's, putting food on the spoon, then feeding him. Finn admitted he felt like he was five years old with Rachel feeding him, but at that moment he didn't care. As long as he was alive and here with her then he didn't mind one bit.

* * *

Late that night, Rachel and Kurt walked along the empty halls of NYADA, in hopes of finding the security booth, in order to talk to the security guard to get a tape of the car accident that sent Finn in the hospital. Rachel felt as if she were on a mission—Kurt however was hoping that they wouldn't get caught.

"Rachel, I don't know if we should be here." Kurt sounded almost frightened. Rachel turned around to give Kurt a hard glare.

"Nonsense Kurt, I go to school here. I'm allowed here at any hour I want." Rachel turned back around to head to the video room. Once Kurt and Rachel reached the video room, Kurt looked around while Rachel tried to pick the lock of the door. Rachel found that picking the lock was a struggle, releasing a sigh. "I can't get the lock."

"Do you need help with that?" A voice that wasn't Kurt's wondered. Rachel turned around with Kurt following suit to see none other than Santana standing behind them with her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets.

"Santana?" Kurt exclaimed.

"Santana, what are you doing here?" Rachel shook her head, trying to understand what was going on here. Santana was sure Brody wasn't a part of the whole ruse, so why was she here trying to help Rachel and Kurt?

"I came to help you find evidence on that scheming fake blonde." Santana simply answered, heading towards the door with a smirk. "Now watch a master at work." Rachel and Kurt observed while Santana swiftly picked the lock of the door. Five seconds later, the door opened with Santana giving a proud smirk towards Rachel and Kurt.

"You unlocked the door? How?" Kurt wondered.

"That's a secret Lady Hummel." Santana spoke, heading into the room. Rachel and Kurt quickly followed Santana, looking to see that the cameras were all on and the tapes were to the side. "Let's start looking for that tape." Santana started to head towards the tapes, observing the dates one by one. As Rachel and Kurt watched Santana, they didn't anticipate the security guard to come in the room holding a box of Dunkin Donuts.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" The security guard raised his eyebrow towards the three young adults, causing them to turn around in an instant.

"And we're going to jail, and we're screwed." Kurt muttered. Rachel elbowed him in the arm before taking a step forward to give the security guard a pleading look.

"Please, we're only trying to help my fiancé." Rachel sounded almost desperate. "He was hit by a car in front of NYADA and he said that it was a teacher and a student that ran him over." Rachel bit her lip after the sentence, as the security guard's face softened for a moment.

"And what makes you think the tapes are here?" The security guard still didn't seem convinced.

"If it helps, Cassandra was the one that ran Finn over. We just need proof." Santana shrugged her shoulders, looking over at the security guard. The security guard's face looked as if he realized something, putting the donuts down, sitting down, and getting some tapes out.

"You got it kids." The security guard continued to look through the tapes while Santana eyed the Dunkin Donuts box.

"Do you mind if I have a donut?" Santana asked. "I haven't eaten since this morning and I'm starved." The security guard opened the box, holding it out to Santana with a smile.

"Which one?" The security guard wondered, while Rachel and Kurt slapped their foreheads with their hands in annoyance.

* * *

Santana wandered along the halls of NYADA the next day while Rachel stood behind one of the corners in hopes of finding Cassandra in hopes of putting this game to bed. After looking at the tapes with Rachel, Kurt and the security guard, she couldn't believe that Brody was the one that had helped Cassandra get away, but at least she knew that she was dealing with a snake instead of a handsome NYADA junior. Santana entered one of the classrooms to find Cassandra standing there looking almost proud of herself while Santana crossed her arms .

"Oh look, it's Thunder Legs." Cassandra quipped before turning back towards the mirror. "I'm surprised those gigantic legs of yours was able to get you all the way to the school.

"Oh, I'm sorry Cassandra." Santana sardonically replied. "I'm afraid I don't speak 'bitch'." Santana then walked around Cassandra, almost sneering. "I also know you're secret of being an attempted murderer."

"What are you talking about?" Cassandra suddenly froze, looking over to Santana.

"I know you were the one that almost killed Finn with your car." Santana crossed her arms, staring at the dance teacher.

"You have no proof." Cassandra tried to compose herself, but Santana simply chuckled.

"Oh, I think I do have proof. You see, Finn told me the type of car you drive, so since I know that Finn's stepfather is a part-time mechanic, I asked him for help." Cassandra noticed Santana walking closer to her, a smirk appearing on the young adults face. "I found your Denali with a dent in the front, and it looked like a pretty big dent."

"I hit a tree." Cassandra simply stated.

"Oh, you did now?" Santana pretended to believe Cassandra before becoming serious again. "I have people who work in forensics and they found something really interesting on your car. Blood. They found some blood on your car, they did a DNA test, and it showed that the blood that they found belonged to Finn. You want to know how I know it's Finn's for a fact? He has a gash on the top of his head and they needed to do stiches. That's where the blood came from. Now, I also know that Brody was your little accomplice."

"You mean the guy you worked for?" Cassandra sneered.

"Yes, unfortunately. You see, I didn't believe Rachel when she told me yesterday about the fact that Finn knew Brody was there—until we came down here in the middle of the night and got the tapes from the security guard. It showed that Finn was telling the truth, and that Brody was involved. And do you want to know where those tapes are? With the police, who are on their way to escort you to prison. You'll only get a year or so for attempted vehicular manslaughter but you'll be tainted. You'll never work in another city again. You'll never work for NYADA again. But before the cops come here, there's someone that I would like you to see…" Santana turned to the door and in stormed Rachel, who looked as if she was about to murder Cassandra with her bare hands.

"You monster!" Rachel screamed towards Cassandra, causing the dance teacher to uncharacteristically look afraid of what was soon to be her former student. "How dare you hurt Finn!"

"It was simple; I wanted to break you up Schwimmer. That's pretty much it." Cassandra smirked, apparently not caring that she was going to be arrested in a matter of moments.

"Listen, Finn may be so annoying that you'd need earplugs when going to sleep because he snores like the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk, but you took it to a whole other level." Santana didn't sound too happy with Cassandra either.

"So what are you two brats going to do to me? Huh? You can't stop me because I'll be out of jail sooner than you can say this stupid school's name." Cassandra seethed. Rachel turned around to see the police enter the doorway, staring over at Cassandra as if they knew the game was over.

"Oh, the game is over Cassandra." Rachel walked closer to her, anger evident in her eyes. "Finn and Santana were right. I should have stood up to you a long time ago, and now that Finn is in terrible pain, there's nothing stopping me from doing this." Rachel took her hand and slapped Cassandra across the face, her face still twisted in a scowl. Cassandra appeared shocked for a moment, then turned to the officers.

"Excuse me! She hit me!" Cassandra pointed to Rachel while the cops stared at her.

"She did?" The first cop decided to play dumb.

"We didn't see anything." The second cop played along. He then took out his handcuffs from the back pocket and walked over to Cassandra. "As for what you did to her fiancé, we saw the tape…every moment of it." The second cop cuffed Cassandra while the former dance teacher stared over at Rachel with steely eyes.

"This isn't over." Cassandra said as the cops began to take her away.

"Oh, I believe it is." Santana turned around giving Rachel a smirk. "She'll have fun with some nice people in jail that would give her a nice present." As soon as the cops and Cassandra left, Rachel and Santana looked to one another, Rachel giving her friend a grateful smile.

"Santana, thank you…" Rachel said, looking to her friend.

"You're welcome." Santana simply said, looking over at Rachel. "You know, I'd do anything for you."

"Well, that's nice to know…but you did this for Finn as well." A smile crept on Rachel's face as Santana rolled her eyes playfully

"All right, maybe I did do it for Frankenteen, just a little bit." Santana chuckled. Santana became serious while thinking about what had happened in the past couple of days. "And I'm sorry about not believing Finn."

"Well, at least Brody and Cassandra will be put behind bars for what they've done." Rachel assured her. As soon as the words came out of Rachel's mouth, two cops that were working the case walked over to Rachel and Santana with a worried expression on their face.

"There's a problem." The first cop fiddled with his fingers while the second cop looked down.

"What's the matter? What happened?" Rachel began to feel antsy about the whole ordeal.

"There was an issue with Cassandra and Brody." The second cop muttered.

"Apparently Cassandra escaped from the cop car while we were writing the report." The first cop shot a glare towards the second cop, an angered expression appearing on his face. "Because _someone_ forgot to lock the door to the cop car and forgot to lock the handcuffs in place."

"Instead when we got back to the car, we saw a note from Cassandra that said that we were never going to catch her alive. She then ended the note with 'Ha, ha, ha. I always win.' Right now, she's in the wind." The second cop admitted. Rachel and Santana turned to one another then back at the cop in disbelief. Just as soon as they had thought they had gotten Cassandra into custody, she had run off again.

"Well are you going to find her?" Santana sounded annoyed.

"Yeah, we are going to find her." The first cop assured the girls. "We're putting an APB on Cassandra and Brody."

"Wait a minute." Rachel shook her head, looking to the cops. "Brody is still on the loose as well?!"

"Yeah, we weren't able to catch him either." The second cop confessed. "Apparently he got away too."

"Wow, you are pathetic excuses for cops." Santana pretended to be amazed with the cops. The cops simply chose to ignore Santana's comment and started to head towards the door.

"We'll keep you posted." The first cop told the girls before heading out the door. Rachel felt the anger returning to her body, as she looked back to Santana.

"We were this close to getting her behind bars." Rachel sounded deflated.

"I know that you're upset, Rachel." Santana put a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "But we're going to find Cassandra and Brody and bring them to justice. One way or another, we're gonna get them."

"We better." Rachel sounded determined. "Because I am not going to let them get away with what they did. They put Finn in danger, and I can't allow that. They're going to wish they were never born."

* * *

As soon as Rachel entered the apartment, she noticed that Finn and Kurt were playing a game on the PS3 console, forcing Rachel to emit a small smile after a long terrible day. She placed her coat on the hanger, walking over to her best friend and fiancé, in hopes that she could join them.

"What are you doing?" Rachel wondered as Finn turned his head towards Rachel.

"We're playing _Rock Band_." Finn simply answered with a grin on his face.

"Come on, Rachel. Play with us." Kurt tempted her with the microphone in his hand. "I was trying to get Finn to sing and play the drums but he said he'd rather play the drums with one hand and that he couldn't hold the microphone."

"You guys want me to play _Rock Band_?" Rachel enquired, seeing that Finn and Kurt were serious. Rachel wasn't one for video games, but since Finn was hurt she realized that she should at least give what the boys were doing a chance. "Fine, but I will warn you that I will wipe the floor of your guitar and drum playing."

"All right, so what song are we going to do?" Kurt began to get impatient, skimming through the songs that were on the screen.

"How about 'I Love Rock N' Roll'?" Rachel suggested. Finn and Kurt thought for a moment then released a smile.

"All right then." Kurt gave a grin.

"Sounds good to me." Finn added. Before they pressed play, Santana came into the apartment, causing Rachel and Finn to give a sly smirk towards her. "Santana, come play with us?"

"You want me to play _Rock Band_ with you?" Santana questioned.

"Come on, do it for Finn!" Rachel gave Santana the puppy dog eyes, with Santana finally relenting and grabbing the second microphone that came with the game. "All right, press play Kurt!" Rachel instructed, sounding a bit excited. Kurt nodded his head, pressing play as the music started to fill the room. In that moment, the four of them felt like they were in an actual rock band, although Kurt and Finn were completely off tempo with their fake instruments. After a while, Finn and Kurt gave up on playing the instruments and playfully tried to hog Rachel and Santana's microphones, while the four of them all sang along to the iconic 80's rock classic.

[Rachel]  
I saw him dancing there by the record machine  
I knew he must have been about seventeen  
The beat was going strong  
Playing my favorite song  
And I could tell it wouldn't be long till he was with me

[Finn, Kurt and Santana]  
Yeah me

[Rachel]  
And I could tell it wouldn't be long till he was with me

[Finn, Kurt and Santana]  
Yeah me

[Rachel, Finn, Kurt and Santana]  
Singing I love rock n' roll  
So put another dime in the jukebox baby  
I love rock n' roll  
So come and take your time and dance with me

[Santana]  
He smiled so I got up and asked for his name  
But that don't matter he said 'cause it's all the same  
He said "Can I take you home"  
Where we could be alone  
And next we were moving on and he was with me

[Rachel, Finn and Kurt]  
Yeah me

[Santana]  
And next we were moving on and he was with me

[Rachel, Finn and Kurt]  
Yeah me

[Santana, Kurt, Finn and Rachel]  
Singing I love rock n' roll  
So put another dime in the jukebox baby  
I love rock n' roll  
So come and take your time and dance with me

[Santana]  
He said can I take you home

[Rachel]  
Where we could be alone

[Santana and Rachel]  
Next we're moving on, he was with me

[Finn and Kurt]  
Yeah me

[Santana and Rachel]  
And we'll be moving on and singing that same old song

[Finn and Kurt]  
Yeah me

[Santana, Rachel, Finn and Kurt]  
Singing I love rock n' roll  
So put another dime in the jukebox baby  
I love rock n' roll  
So come and take your time and dance with

I love rock n' roll  
So put another dime in the jukebox baby  
I love rock n' roll  
So come and take your time and dance with me

As soon as the song ended, Rachel put her arms around Finn's neck while Santana and Kurt laughed playfully while waiting for their score. After seeing that their score wasn't the best, they couldn't help but laugh, wanting to try again on getting a better score. This was just the distraction Rachel felt like they needed before they had to fly to Lima to help the Glee Club. But if Rachel knew one thing was certain, it was this; she wasn't going tell Finn about what happened to Cassandra and Brody. He would probably worry, and he probably wouldn't be happy that she and Santana let them get away.

* * *

_Song Featured: I Love Rock N' Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (Sung by Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, Finn Hudson and Kurt Hummel)_


	34. FUNNY GIRL AUDITION

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Rachel and Santana were able to get proof that Cassandra was the one who ran over Finn with Brody as an accomplice and the police arrested Cassandra-except they forgot to lock the door and Cassandra escaped. Oops. Finn's parents found out that he was planning on getting an honorable discharge for his dad and Rachel found the soldier that Finn has to talk to for that. Rachel's audition is coming up and she hopes that she'll get the lead role for Funny Girl. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, although I wish I did. Reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!**

* * *

For the next week or so, anyone that was hoping of getting some peace and quiet in the Brooklyn loft—was dead wrong. Rachel had been so busy preparing (and worrying) about her Funny Girl audition that everyone was on edge. Anything they had done, or said could have ticked Rachel off. They knew that they were living with a girl who had Broadway dreams, but they were afraid that Rachel was putting pressure on herself. They didn't want her to get all frazzled for her audition. The day before the audition, Rachel spent countless hours in front of the mirror, singing into it as if it was her audience. Everything had to be just right.

"Rachel?" Rachel turned around to see Finn standing in the doorway, looking at her with a concerned expression. Finn had the larger cast removed from his arm but still had to wear a slight brace to help his arm heal correctly. He found the entire week leading up to Rachel's audition a little weird. The doctor said his arm didn't heal fully, Cassandra was nowhere to be seen during dance class and on the odd note, neither was Brody. He figured that they'd both be back to terrorize him and Rachel after the break, so he decided to focus on his fiancée and his friends for the week. "If you sing in front of the mirror any longer, you're going to lose your voice."

"But I'm trying to sing perfectly for my audition tomorrow." Rachel gave Finn a puppy dog pout then turned towards the mirror to continue to look into it. Finn walked over to her, and placed his good hand on her shoulder.

"Then save your voice for tomorrow." Finn instructed. "I'm not a vocal coach, but I think it's a good idea that we let your voice rest." Rachel contemplated Finn's words for a moment, then relented, realizing that Finn was right.

"Fine, but I'm just trying to be perfect." Rachel huffed.

"And you will be perfect." Finn assured her, wrapping his arm around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I have faith in you, babe."

"I know you do. I guess I'm just nervous." Rachel admitted. "What if I don't get the role?"

"Then I will love you just the same." Finn smiled. "Rachel, you don't need that role to prove to anyone that you're special. I know you're special with or without it." Rachel beamed widely at her fiancé, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"I love you, Finn." Rachel simply said, before pressing a kiss on his lips. Finn placed his forehead on hers, still staring into her eyes.

"So while we're in here, what do you want to do?" Finn suggestively wondered. Rachel shook her head, a smirk on her face.

"Oh, so you were walking around like the 'Walking Dead' this morning but all of a sudden you want sex?" Rachel chuckled.

"I didn't say that." Finn chuckled, but knew that Rachel knew him all too well. "All right, I'll be a good boy." Rachel pressed a kiss on Finn's cheek, then heading towards the living room in order to relax.

"Maybe we should watch a movie." Rachel suggested, sitting down on the sofa. Although Brody was on the run, Santana still decided to keep her job much to Rachel, Finn and Kurt's chagrin. Kurt was busy trying to book the week vacation at Vogue so he could fly down to Lima for Spring Break. That meant it left Rachel and Finn home alone for the afternoon, since school was already out for Spring Break. But before anyone could go to Lima, Rachel had to have her audition first—and she had to be good. Finn entered the living room with a movie in his hand, as Rachel stared over at him.

"Are you ready to watch some movies?" Finn asked. Rachel nodded her head as Finn popped the DVD in the television and took a seat next to his fiancée. Rachel eyed the television, but her mind was somewhere else—more like her audition that was tomorrow. Finn noticed Rachel had her mind set on other things, so he paused the movie for a moment and stared over at her. "Rachel, are you worried about something?"

"No, I'm fine." Rachel tried to convince Finn. "It's not like my audition has my stomach tied in knots."

"Rachel? You've never been nervous about anything before." Finn was a bit surprised that Rachel was showing nervousness. She never had even when they were singing for Sectionals, Regionals and Nationals.

"I know but, I'm freaking out." Rachel sighed. "This role means the world to me…and I can't bare if I lose it because of butterflies in my stomach."

"Rachel, you are going to kick some ass tomorrow." Finn assured her. "And do you know why? Because you're Rachel Berry and no one has determination and will power as strong as yours. You're going to do great and I know that you're going to get the role." Rachel looked to him, giving him a reassuring grin. Maybe Finn was right. Maybe she was going to get the role after all. She could only try.

"All right, I won't worry about it anymore." Rachel promised, taking the remote from him. "Now let's watch this movie. What are we watching anyway?"

"I think it's _Transformers_." Finn said, looking over at the DVD case.

"I don't remember us owning _Transformers_." Rachel sounded confused.

"Oh, because I bought it from _Barnes & Noble_." Finn gave Rachel a slight grin before he became excited. "Did you know that they sell books there? There's like a whole floor just for books."

"Yeah, I kind of knew that." Rachel giggled slightly, nodding her head towards him. "So, why don't we watch this movie? I want to see Shia LeBouf."

"And now I regret buying the movie." Finn instantly said after Rachel's Shia comment.

"Trust me, only you have my heart." Rachel insisted. "It's just these guys are eye candy."

"And the eye candy make us men feel more insecure about ourselves." Finn pointed out.

"Well, maybe I'll enjoy the movie. Who knows?" Rachel grinned. Finn pressed play on the television as Rachel and Finn stared watching the film. Rachel tried her hardest to keep her mind off her audition tomorrow. She just hoped that she would get the part.

* * *

The next morning, Rachel entered the kitchen to find Finn, Santana and Kurt sitting around the breakfast table, eating bacon and eggs and sipping on coffee. Rachel walked over to them, seeing the meal, then sat down next to Finn.

"Good morning, Rachel." Finn spoke in a chipper tone, planting a kiss on Rachel's cheek.

"Are you ready for your audition today?" Kurt wondered. Rachel felt her stomach tie in knots as she stared over at her friends.

"Um, yeah…" Rachel quickly nodded her head then took a sip of her coffee. Finn, Santana and Kurt looked at one another then back at her, wondering if she really was ready for her audition.

"Are you sure Rachel?" Santana asked. "I mean, I thought you would be more excited about this. After all, you are auditioning for the lead in _Funny Girl_. If it were me, I would be totally nervous. I'd probably forget the lyrics, hit a wrong note, strain my voice…"

"Santana." Kurt sternly said, looking to Santana. "Stop talking."

"None of that is going to happen to Rachel." Finn sternly told Santana while keeping a comforting arm around Rachel's arm. "She's going to do great."

"What time is the audition anyway?" Kurt wondered.

"The audition's at ten so I better get ready." Rachel got up from the chair, heading to the bathroom in haste. She didn't want Finn, Kurt or Santana to see that deep down, she really was anxious about the audition. She was supposed to be Rachel Berry. She was the star of the Glee Club and she never was worried about a competition in her life. This was the first time that Rachel felt almost vulnerable. Rachel grabbed her toiletries from her room then turned towards the bathroom only to find Finn standing in front of her. She looked into his eyes to see that he was concerned about her.

"Are you sure you're okay, Rachel?" Finn said in almost a whisper, not wanting Kurt and Santana to come along and make Rachel more nervous than she already was.

"I'm fine." Rachel tried to convince Finn and herself. However, she knew that Finn knew the truth.

"I know that you're worried, Rachel." Finn simply said. "But remember, you have friends that love you whether you get the part or not." Finn rubbed circles on Rachel's back to comfort her as she stared over at him.

"Do you think I'll get the part?" Rachel whispered.

"I_ know _you'll get the part. And do you know why I think so?" Finn saw Rachel shake her head before continuing. "Because you're going to do great. Just pretend that you're singing in front of the Glee Club. You always shined when you did that." Rachel didn't think of it that way. Pretend she was singing in front of the Glee Club. That would work.

"All right." Rachel gave a confident smile towards Finn, pressing a kiss to his cheek before heading to the bathroom. "I must get ready for my audition! Today, a star is born!" Rachel entered the bathroom while Finn gave a proud smile. She was always a star to him, but today the whole world was going to see just how great Rachel was.

* * *

Rachel arrived at the theatre for her audition a half hour before ten, looking around to get familiar with the scenery. She kept thinking that as a possibility, she could be here and she could be performing in front of hundreds of people per night. As Rachel sat in her seat, looking through the lyrics, she noticed a girl who was so poised that it would make any director swoon. The girl sat next to Rachel, staring at her while Rachel continued to look over the lyrics.

"You might want to stop looking over your lyrics now." The girl let out a smirk. Rachel looked up and stared over at the girl in confusion.

"Excuse me?" Rachel shook her head.

"You heard me." The girl sneered. "You might as well stop practicing for the role, seeing that my daddy is the director of the Funny Girl production, I basically have the part locked in." Rachel didn't know whether to believe the girl, but she did seem like she had acting in her bones.

"I…I don't believe you." Rachel simply said, trying to look back at the lyrics she had in her hand.

"Oh, but I am." The girl fluffed her perfectly bouncy blonde hair. "As a matter of fact, just going through the audition is a formality. Besides, my daddy only wants pretty girls for the role."

"What are you trying to say?" Rachel crossed her arms, still staring at the girl.

"You're not pretty enough for Broadway." The girl leered.

"It's not about being pretty, it's about being talented." Rachel firmly stated. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to work on how to perfect my audition so that I can get the role." Rachel then turned back to her lyrics, still trying to pinpoint how she was going to sing them. The girl simply rolled her eyes and looked away from her. Rachel wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of her being on Broadway, especially the daughter of the producer. Rachel rolled her eyes, not believing that there were some catty girls around here, all vying for a role. Rachel continued to skim through the lyrics, until another girl came to sit down next to her.

"Hey, I know you." The girl smiled. "You're Rachel Berry." Rachel gave the girl a wide grin, nodding her head quickly.

"Yeah, that's me." Rachel looked down to her lyrics then back to the girl. "And may I ask two things? How do you know me and what's your name?"

"I know you from NYADA. I'm in your school but I'm a junior." The girl nodded her head. "My name's Marie. And I see that you met Margaret Peters, otherwise known as the director's daughter." Marie and Rachel turned their heads to Margaret who was busy curling her hair with a portable hair curler.

"I guess looking good is a part of Margaret's game?" Rachel wondered.

"Yep, and don't worry. She barely has talent. She might only get a chorus part because of course her dad is the director. I doubt she'll get the lead." Marie shook her head, then looked back to Rachel. "I just came over here to tell you to break a leg. I've seen you around the school with your fiancé and you're both quite good. I was a little surprised to hear him sing so flawlessly."

"He's been taking vocal lessons." Rachel half joked then let out a wide grin. "But in reality, Finn is just a good singer. He was found for our Glee Club while singing in the gym shower."

"That's impressive." Marie let out a giggle. "I know you're going to get the role of Fanny. I've heard you sing Barbra at school and I must say you are fantastic."

"Thank you, that means a lot coming from someone of your caliber at NYADA." Rachel smiled widely. "So what role are you auditioning for?"

"I was hoping to audition for Rose." Marie said. "That way I won't be the lead but I'll still get a good part."

"Well, I'm sure you'll knock it out of the park." Rachel said. Rachel turned her head to see the director's assistant, pointing at her to let her know that it was time for her to go on stage.

"Break a leg, Rachel." Marie gave Rachel two thumbs up. Rachel wasn't as nervous as before, and gave Marie two thumbs up as well. Rachel walked towards the exit as Margaret sat next to Marie. As soon as the door closed, Margaret turned towards Marie, raising an eyebrow.

"So she's good?" Margaret wondered.

"I don't know. We can sneak into the auditorium to hear just how good Miss Priss is." Marie and Margaret got up from their seats, sneaking into the auditorium in order to sit down and hear Rachel. While Marie wasn't concerned with Rachel getting the part, she knew that Margaret wanted the part more than anything. And if Rachel was good—then they were going to have to find some way to get rid of her.

"All right, Rachel Berry?" The director said in the front row. Rachel slowly got on the stage, then stared over to the director. "Hello Rachel, what are you going to sing for us today?"

"What is this? American Idol?" Margaret grumbled under her breath while Marie stifled a giggle.

"I'm going to sing 'Sadie, Sadie' sung by the iconic Barbra Streisand from the Broadway adaption of 'Funny Girl' that aired in 1964." Rachel beamed, then turned to the composer who was getting the music together. Marie and Margaret watched Rachel as she started to sing, then became confused when the boys choir that Margaret's father already hired starting singing along with Rachel. It seemed like she _was_ Fanny Brice—but she had to remember it was already an audition.

[Rachel]  
I'm Sadie, Sadie  
Married lady  
But when I go by  
I'm a corporation now  
Not me, myself and I  
Oh, how that marriage license works  
On chamber maids and hotel clerks  
The honeymoon was such delight  
That we got married that same night

I'm Sadie, Sadie  
Married lady  
Still in bed at noon  
Wracking my brain deciding  
Between orange juice and prune  
Nick says nothing is too good for me  
And who am I not to agree  
I'm Sadie, Sadie  
Married lady  
That's me

[Choir]  
She's Sadie, Sadie  
Married lady

[Rachel]  
Meet a mortgagee

[Choir]  
The owner of an ice box

[Rachel]  
With a ten year guarantee  
Oh sit me in the softest seat  
Quick, a cushion for me  
Do for me, buy for me, lift me, carry me  
Finally got a guy to marry me!

I do my nails  
Read up on sales  
All day the records play  
Then he comes home, I tell him  
Oh, what a day I had today  
I swear I'll do my wifely job  
Just sit at home  
become a slob!  
I'm Sadie, Sadie  
married lady that's me

[Choir]  
She's Sadie, Sadie, married lady  
Sadie, you did the trick

[Rachel]  
It's nothing

[Choir]  
Not every girl can get herself  
A guy who looks like Nick

[Rachel]  
Wait, to tell the truth, it hurts my pride  
The groom was prettier than his bride

[Choir]  
Sadie, Sadie, married lady

[Rachel]  
Husband, house, a mortgage, a baby

[Choir]  
Sadie, Sadie, married lady

[Rachel]  
That's who?

[Choir]  
That's you!

[Rachel]  
That's me—married lady!

[Rachel with Choir}  
Say hello to Ziegfeld's married lady—Sadie!

As soon as Rachel finished singing, the director didn't seem impressed and by the look of things, no one else was impressed either. Rachel felt a pit in her stomach as her mind began to race. Did she hit a wrong note during the chorus of the song? Did she do something, anything wrong? Rachel tried many ways to figure out what went wrong with her performance, but the director simply looked up at her and nodded.

"Thank you Rachel. We'll call you to let you know whether you got the part or not." The director then looked down at the paper, hoping to call in the next person. Rachel walked off the stage almost feeling low. She didn't do that bad, did she? As Rachel reached the exit, she noticed Margaret blocking the door with a smirk on her face.

"Yeah, my dad didn't like you so don't expect that you got the part." Margaret sneered, walking past while Marie quickly followed Margaret. Rachel felt her heart drop as she started to wipe her tears from her eyes. Rachel walked out of the auditorium, trying to wipe the tears so that no one would know that she was crying—but she didn't expect Finn to be sitting on the park bench waiting for her. Finn quickly noticed Rachel's upset face and got up from the bench to walk stiffly over to her.

"Rach, what happened? How did it go?" Finn asked, putting his arm around her shoulders. Rachel buried her face in Finn's chest as she started to sob. Finn rubbed her back soothingly as Rachel continued to cry. "Rachel? Did something happen?"

"I messed up." Rachel said through tears. Finn continued to stand there, not knowing what else to say to her. He continued to rub her back, staring at her while letting out a sigh.

"I'm sure you didn't mess up." Finn assured her. Rachel just shook her head then stared up at him.

"I did mess up." Rachel continued to look at Finn. "I did. I'm pretty sure I did something wrong. The director's daughter said so and she knows him better than anyone else." Finn continued to look at Rachel as they started to head down towards the bus stop.

"Did they say that they would call you regardless whether or not you got the part?" Finn asked.

"Yes." Rachel feebly said, worried about the phone call.

"Then, don't worry about it." Finn simply said. "I know that you did great. I have so much faith in you." Rachel continued to look at Finn as he pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm sure that they were trying to psych you out or something. You should know that you're great because I know that you're great, okay? And if you don't get the part then we could cry together. If you get the part, then we'll laugh together. No matter the outcome, we'll get through it together. Because I'm going to be there for you, for better or worse. Okay?" Rachel felt a small smile creep on her lips as Finn pressed his lips to hers. Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn's neck, staring into his eyes.

"I love you so much." Rachel whispered. Finn pressed his lips to Rachel's once more, leaving a sweet kiss. As soon as he parted, he grabbed her hand as they started walking towards the bus stop.

"So what song did you sing?" Finn asked, intertwining his fingers with Rachel's.

"_Sadie, Sadi_e_._" Rachel admitted. "I sang it because I thought about you and how we were getting married."

"I don't even have to hear it and I love it." Finn sweetly said, causing Rachel to smile. Finn then heard his phone ring, looking down to see Santana calling him. Finn unwillingly took his hand from Rachel's and picked up the cell phone. "Yeah, Santana what is it?"

"_Hello Frankenteen, we're supposed to be at the airport because we have to get to Lima, or did you forget in that child-like head of yours." _Santana quipped.

"Gee Santana, let's see…oh, my child-like head decided to go pick Rachel up from her audition. We'll be home soon." Finn let out a sigh.

"_Good. Oh, I also got a text that we're supposed to meet Quinn at Breadstix tonight. She said she had a surprise."_ Santana spoke through the phone.

"All right, we're going to take the train now. See you later." Finn hung up the phone then turned to Rachel. "That was Santana saying we have to fly to Lima and that there was a surprise for us when we got there."

"We should probably get home and finish packing then." Rachel suggested. Finn nodded his head, walking towards the train with Rachel in tow. Rachel looked back at the auditorium where the auditions were and Rachel couldn't help but feel upset. The director's daughter told her that her father didn't think she was good enough. Rachel turned back to see that Finn had stopped in his tracks to stare at her as Rachel took in a deep breath. "I'm fine." Rachel told herself softly, heading towards Finn and going towards the train station. Finn raised an eyebrow seeing Rachel going ahead of him, beginning to worry about his fiancée. What was he going to do to cheer her up?

* * *

_Song Featured: Sadie, Sadie by Barbra Streisand [From Funny Girl on Broadway] (Sung by Rachel Berry)_


	35. ND Female Alumni: When I Grow Up

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Rachel auditioned for the role of Funny Girl but she felt like everyone was trying to psych her out so she let her emotions get the best of her. Finn, Kurt, Santana and Rachel also are heading to Lima to help New Directions win Regionals. Also, Finn wants to find this guy named Malcom Reese in order to get his father an honorable discharge. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, although I wish I did.**

* * *

The flight to Lima was long—extremely long. Aside from Kurt blabbing about how he had to get to work on the designs for the Regionals outfits and Santana talking about how she couldn't wait to show the new kids how performing was done, there was no time for Finn to actually talk to Rachel about her audition. Finn wanted to make sure that Rachel was 100% when they went to go to McKinley in the morning, and he wanted to make sure the audition was in the back of her mind. Rachel was unusually quiet the entire ride, and even Kurt and Santana were a little freaked out by the fact that the usually talkative Rachel didn't say much. Once the plane landed, they went to the terminal to get their bags before heading over to Burt and Carole's house, which was currently empty due to Burt being in Washington for the next couple of weeks. Finn took Rachel's bag along with his own, something that Rachel quickly noticed.

"Finn, what are you doing?" Rachel noticed Finn struggling slightly with the bags.

"I'm trying to get your bags like a good fiancé does." Finn absentmindedly answered.

"Yes, but you only have one good arm. We don't want to break your other arm, now do we?" Rachel took her bag from Finn, raising an eyebrow towards him.

"But I'm fine. My arm doesn't hurt as badly as it did when I was hit with the car." Finn said.

"Finn, it still didn't heal correctly." Rachel took Finn's bag, walking towards the exit of the terminal. Finn let out a weary sigh, knowing that there was no way that he was going to be able to compete with Rachel. She did have a point after all.

"Can we please stop arguing so we can get to the house and meet Quinn at Breadstix?" Kurt walked past Finn with Santana in tow as Finn became confused.

"No one was fighting." Finn walked after them, heading out of the terminal.

* * *

An hour later, Rachel, Finn, Santana and Kurt entered Breadstix; in hopes of finding Quinn in order to see the big 'surprise' she had for them. As they looked around, they noticed Quinn sitting in one of the booths.

"There she is." Santana pointed as Finn, Rachel and Kurt followed Santana's finger towards Quinn's booth. Quinn was reading a book when she noticed someone was standing before her. When she saw that it was Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Santana, she couldn't help but get up and allow a squeal. Rachel and Santana hugged their good friend with Kurt and Finn joining in the hug a moment later. After realizing that they were getting looks from everyone, they all sat down in the booth in hopes of ordering dinner.

"So how was the flight?" Quinn finally said, looking over at her friends.

"It was fine, except Kurt and Santana wouldn't stop talking about Regionals." Finn chuckled, earning glares from Kurt and Santana.

"I'm surprised Rachel wasn't the one talking everyone's ear off. She's always so excited about something." Quinn said, then turned to see her friend looking down at the table with a sad look. "Rachel? Are you okay?"

"She's fine." Finn said after a moment. "She had her audition for _Funny Girl_ and she doesn't think it went well."

"Oh, I'm sorry Rachel." Quinn frowned, feeling sympathetic for her.

"It's fine." Rachel shook her head. "I just have a lot of other things to focus on. I have to get the kids in McKinley in performing shape and they have to be at their best. Plus I also have to worry about my dance final when school starts again next week."

"Don't worry, Rachel. I'm sure that everything will work out for you." Quinn reassured her.

"I hope so too." Rachel said. "Maybe there's another audition that I can squeeze myself in. Maybe they'll need someone for the revival of _Aladdin_. I could always play Princess Jasmine."

"You're not settling yourself to be in a Disney musical." Kurt scolded.

"But it's Broadway." Rachel pointed out.

"She's got you there Lady Hummel." Santana took a sip of her water, staring at Kurt. After a moment, Santana put the drink down, staring over at Quinn. "I thought that you said that you had a surprise for us."

"As a matter of fact, I do." Quinn let out a sly grin. Quinn got up from her seat, heading towards the bathrooms, knocking on both the doors. When the doors opened, Rachel, Kurt, Finn and Santana became ecstatic at the faces that were in front of them. It was none other than their friends and fellow Glee Club alumni Mercedes Jones, Mike Chang and Noah "Puck" Puckerman. They got up from their seats and went over to their friends, suddenly forgetting all of their problems for a moment, wanting to catch up on how everyone was doing. After five more minutes, everyone was sitting in the booth with sodas and dinner, talking about their experiences since they hadn't seen each other since graduating High School.

"I really still can't believe that you got into NYADA, Finn." Mercedes let out a chuckle after Finn told them about his adventures in Rachel's school.

"Do you have to wear a tutu when doing dance class?" Puck joked, causing everyone to stifle a giggle.

"No, I do not have to wear a tutu." Finn mimicked Puck's expression, rolling his eyes. "But I do have to dance…at least I did before I got into an accident."

"What exactly happened to you?" Mike sipped his soda, staring over at Finn.

"Long story short, I was hit by my dance teacher and a classmate of mine. And then they were absent the entire week I was there." Finn leaned back in his chair with Rachel and Santana giving one another panicked looks. "Maybe they're hiding out in guilt."

"Anyway." Rachel said to quickly change the subject. "Mercedes, Puck, Mike…how are you guys doing. We haven't seen you since graduation."

"Well, I've been at UCLA and I've been recording background vocals for artists." Mercedes said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's my way into the music business. It's the slow and steady way but it works for me."

"School is really hard but it's so worth it." Mike smiled towards Rachel. "I'm hoping that I'll pass with honors at the end of the semester."

"I've been writing a screen play." Puck simply stated. "If anyone would love to read it then you could always be my guest." Everyone continued to look at Puck to see if he was serious. Puck was writing a screenplay. Puck usually complained when he had to write, but apparently, this was something he wanted to do.

"I'll read it, Puck." Quinn said, giving Puck a grin. Puck smiled back at Quinn, nodding his head.

"That would be great Q, thanks." Puck looked to everyone else who were simply staring back at him. Puck cleared his throat, leaning back in his chair while Quinn nervously took a sip of her soda.

"So are you guys going to McKinley in order to help us with Regionals?" Finn wondered. Mike, Mercedes and Puck pretended to think about it for a moment, then nodded their heads.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." Mike said.

"Count us in." Mercedes added.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind whipping my brother into shape." Puck smirked. Finn let out a wide grin at his friends as it began to feel like they were all in High School again. They were the original New Directions members that won Nationals. They were going to get the current New Directions into shape, whether it killed him or not.

* * *

That night, Finn sat in bed watching the television as Rachel came out with her hair tied in a ponytail and in her pajamas for a night's sleep. Rachel crawled into bed next to Finn, watching the T.V to find that Finn was watching tapes of their Nationals performance of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." Rachel continued to marvel at the performances by her friends, remembering the good old days where they were able to get on stage and control their destiny. Finn noticed Rachel staring at the screen, placing an arm around her shoulder and pressing a kiss on her cheek.

"Are you enjoying watching yourself?" Finn teased. Rachel looked to Finn, giving him a smirk.

"Yeah, I think I look pretty awesome." Rachel laughed slightly. Finn continued to stare at his fiancée, seeing that she was marveling at the screen. "Do you plan on using this in helping New Directions?"

"Yep. I was studying the dance moves in here." Finn turned to the screen as Rachel focused on him.

"Well, whatever you do, you're going to be awesome." Rachel said, stretching her arms around Finn's neck and pressing a kiss on Finn's lips.

"Well, I do have some great help from my old teammates and friends…and of course you." Finn grinned at Rachel, putting his forehead on hers.

"Well, do you know the theme for Regionals?" Rachel asked. Finn looked to her for a moment, then gave her a confident grin.

* * *

"Groups!" Finn wrote on the whiteboard in the Glee room the next morning, facing the kids that were there. "When we say the word group, what do you think of?"

"Boy bands." Kitty crossed her arms looking down.

"Girl groups." Ryder added.

"Insane Clown Posse." Brittany said out of nowhere. Finn did think for a moment and realized that as random as Brittany was, she was right.

"Okay, so since that is the theme for Regionals, Puck and I will come up with some songs, then you're going to have vocal coaching lessons by Rachel and Santana. Kurt and Quinn will measure you for your outfits for regionals and Mercedes and Mike will take you through what Mr. Schue likes to call, Booty Camp. Are we all clear?" Finn wondered.

"I have one." Kitty raised her hand towards Finn. "Why bother practicing. We killed it during Sectionals so we should be great for Regionals."

"No one ever slacked and won, Kitty." Finn said, turning back to the front of the room.

"But why bother? I mean, we know that we're the best group of New Directions that this school has ever seen." Kitty gave Finn a smirk, expecting him to become angry. Instead, Santana was the one that became slightly offended.

"Wait, did you just say that you think that you're a better group than us?" Santana scoffed.

"I don't think. I _know_." Kitty challenged Santana.

"Kitty, I think it's best that we shut up now if we don't want to make Santana angry." Marley slightly whispered, not wanting to anger one of the fieriest alumni.

"No Marley, it's okay." Santana said before turning to Kitty. "Kitty thinks she's better than us? Well, let me tell you…we worked our butts off to win that Nationals trophy and I'll be damned if I see you slack and think that you're going to win that way."

"I'd like to see you prove that you think you're better than us." Kitty smirked.

"Fine, I will. To the auditorium, the lot of you." Santana motioned for everyone to follow Santana all the way to the auditorium. Just what did Santana have in mind? As they reached the auditorium, Santana turned to her girls with a smile. "Rachel, Quinn, Mercedes…Brittany. Let's show Kitty what we're made of." Santana walked over to the front of the auditorium with Rachel, Quinn, Mercedes and Brittany in tow.

"That's not fair, why do you have Brittany when she's still in New Directions?" Kitty became a little apprehensive.

"Because Brittany was a part of the original New Directions, meaning she's going to perform with us." Santana smirked at her answer.

"But, I was a part of New Directions too." Tina spoke up.

"Yeah, well you can't keep up with the sexy factor." Santana got on the stage with the others, turning over to Brad the pianist. "Hit it Brad, and if you ask one question about what song I want, I will take your glasses off and shove them down your throat." Brad ignored Santana's snippiness and started playing the keyboard. Santana, Rachel Quinn, Mercedes and Brittany started singing with their perfect harmonies and dancing, bewildering Kitty and the other New Direction members. Maybe, Kitty shouldn't have spoken too soon.

[Santana with Quinn, Rachel, Brittany and Mercedes]  
Boys call you sexy  
And you don't care what they say  
You see every time you're turn around  
They screaming your name  
Boys call you sexy  
And you don't care what they say  
You see every time you're turn around

[Santana]  
Now I've got a confession  
(Quinn and Mercedes: Ha, ha, ha, ha)  
When I was young I wanted attention  
(Quinn and Mercedes: Ha, ha, ha, ha)  
That I promised myself that I'd do anything  
(Quinn and Mercedes: Ha, ha, ha, ha)  
Anything at all for them to notice me  
(Quinn and Mercedes: Ha, ha, ha, ha)

[Mercedes]  
But I ain't complaining  
We all wanna be famous  
So go ahead and say what you want to say  
You know what what's like to be nameless  
Want them to know what your name is  
Cause see when I was younger I would say

[Santana and Mercedes with Quinn, Rachel and Brittany]  
When I grow up  
I wanna be famous  
I wanna be a star  
I wanna be in movies  
When I grow up  
I wanna see the world  
Drive nice car  
I wanna have groupies  
When I grow up  
Be on T.V  
People know me  
Be on magazines  
When I grow up  
Fresh and clean  
Number one chick  
When I step out on the scene

[Quinn with Brittany]  
But be careful what you wish for  
Cause you just might get  
You just might get it  
You just might get it  
But be careful what you wish for  
Cause you just might get  
You just might get it  
You just might get it  
Get it?

[Rachel]  
Used to tell me I was silly  
(Brittany, Quinn and Santana: Ha, ha, ha, ha)  
Until I popped up on the T.V  
(Brittany, Quinn and Santana: La, la, la, la)  
I always wanted to be a super star  
(Brittany, Quinn and Santana: Ha, ha, ha, ha)  
Who knew that singing songs would get me this far  
(Brittany, Quinn and Santana: La, la, la, la)

[Brittany]  
But I ain't complaining  
We all wanna be famous  
So go ahead and say what you want to say  
You know what what's like to be nameless  
Want them to know what your name is  
Cause see when I was younger I would say

[Brittany and Rachel with Quinn, Santana and Mercedes]  
When I grow up  
I wanna be famous  
I wanna be a star  
I wanna be in movies  
When I grow up  
I wanna see the world  
Drive nice car  
I wanna have groupies  
When I grow up  
Be on T.V  
People know me  
Be on magazines  
When I grow up  
Fresh and clean  
Number one chick  
When I step out on the scene

[Quinn and Mercedes]  
But be careful what you wish for  
Cause you just might get  
You just might get it  
You just might get it  
But be careful what you wish for  
Cause you just might get  
You just might get it  
You just might get it  
Get it?

[Brittany]  
I see staring at me  
Ooh, I'm a trendsetter  
Yes cause this is true  
Cause what I do no one  
Can do it better

[Rachel]  
You can talk about me  
Cause I'm a hot topic  
I see you watching me  
And I know you want it

[Santana and Brittany with Rachel, Quinn and Mercedes]  
When I grow up  
I wanna be famous  
I wanna be a star  
I wanna be in movies  
When I grow up  
I wanna see the world  
Drive nice car  
I wanna have groupies  
When I grow up  
Be on T.V  
People know me  
Be on magazines  
When I grow up  
Fresh and clean  
Number one chick  
When I step out on the scene

[Quinn and Santana]  
But be careful what you wish for  
Cause you just might get  
You just might get it  
You just might get it  
But be careful what you wish for  
Cause you just might get  
You just might get it  
You just might get it  
Get it?

[Mercedes and Rachel with Brittany, Quinn and Santana]  
When I grow up  
I wanna be famous  
I wanna be a star  
I wanna be in movies  
When I grow up  
I wanna see the world  
Drive nice car  
I wanna have groupies  
When I grow up  
Be on T.V  
People know me  
Be on magazines  
When I grow up  
Fresh and clean  
Number one chick  
When I step out on the scene

[Quinn and Santana]  
But be careful what you wish for  
Cause you just might get  
You just might get it  
You just might get it  
But be careful what you wish for  
Cause you just might get  
You just might get it  
You just might get it

[Quinn, Santana, Rachel, Brittany and Mercedes]  
Get it?

As soon as Santana and the others finished their performance, the current members of New Directions stood up in their seats to give them a standing ovation. Even Kitty had to admit that she was impressed. Santana got off the stage to give Kitty a smirk, while Kitty gave Santana a look of defeat.

"Okay, I have to admit…that was awesome." Kitty gave Santana a genuine smile. Santana reciprocated the grin, glad that she had earned Kitty's respect—for the moment.

"That was totally awesome." Mike said, looking over to the girls.

"That was incredible!" Finn gave a big goofy grin towards Rachel as she winked at him. Puck's eyes wandered over to Quinn, unsure why he was still staring over at her. Apparently, it was obvious because Finn tapped him on his shoulder. "Puck? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah." Puck nodded his head, seeing that Quinn wasn't even looking at him—she was too busy looking over at Rachel and Santana. "I'm just fine, bro." Puck walked past Finn exiting the auditorium while Finn kept his eyes over to Rachel. He couldn't believe that it had took him this long to realize just how sexy Rachel was. Finn knew that she was a sweetheart and he would tell her that she was sexy all the time, but just being on that stage with that much confidence just now made him look at her as if she were a Victoria's Secret model. Rachel turned to him, giving him a small wave before turning back to the other girls. Finn felt like he was so lucky…and why shouldn't he be?

* * *

"So you have to tell us how NYADA is." Marley gushed as she, Rachel, Brittany, Santana and Mercedes went to the Lima Bean for a cup of coffee that afternoon. Rachel enjoyed that she was the center of attention by Marley, but she also felt like she shouldn't have been.

"NYADA the last couple of weeks has been tricky." Rachel admitted, sitting down on one of the couches, staring at her friends. "I mean, I have to find a way to pass my classes while making sure that Finn is adjusting okay."

"How was it the first couple of days with Finn there? I mean, there had to be some conflict there." Mercedes wondered.

"Not between Finn and I, but a lot of the students didn't like him, especially this kid named Ronald who is obsessed with me." Rachel smirked.

"Have you ever considered Mariah Carey-ing his ass? I mean, tell him that he's obsessed with you and then by the end of the song he gets hit by a NYC bus?" Santana plotted.

"No, I just want him to back off. Not him to end up dead." Rachel firmly stated.

"So, we heard about your audition, how was it?" Brittany bought up while Santana and Mercedes gave Brittany a hard glare. They had told the Glee Club not to mention Rachel's audition since Rachel felt it didn't go too well.

"Um, it went all right. I'm sure I'm not going to get the part, though." Rachel let out a defeated sigh. "There were other girls that seem to have more experience than me, anyway."

"Oh please, Rachel I'm sure that it went fine." Santana sighed. "You never mess up…except with your audition to get _into_ NYADA…not to mention how you stuffed the ballot boxes so you were suspended from competing from Sectionals last year…and we can't forget…"

"Santana." Mercedes turned to her with a glare. "Stop talking."

"It's fine. Can we just not talk about it anymore?" Rachel wondered.

"I think that would be a great idea." Marley agreed.

"So Marley, you and Brittany have to be excited for Regionals and all." Rachel changed the subject, looking to Marley.

"Yeah, except we have to find a song that we all agree on…and we have to get past Blaine with our song choices." Marley took a sip of her coffee while Rachel, Santana and Mercedes look to Marley in interest.

"What do you mean get the song choices past Blaine?" Santana questioned.

"He trashed Justin Timberlake, and then because of him Kitty and Joe got into an argument because they were arguing over context of lyrics." Marley recapped.

"He's worse than that guy who tried to tell us how big our sodas have to be." Brittany leaned back in her chair.

"You mean the Mayor of New York?" Santana tried to clarify.

"Exactly." Brittany nodded her head. "I mean, if we want to get fat and have kidney stones then we should have the right to drink however big a soda we want."

"Brittany, no one wants kidney stones." Mercedes shook her head, trying her best not to laugh at her friend's logic.

"Trust me…no one wants one." Marley grimaced at the thought before changing the subject. "I actually was thinking of some ideas for Regionals, but I need everyone to be on the same page with me."

"Well, all right then." Rachel nodded her head giving Marley a grin.

"I just hope that we're as good as you guys. I mean what you did on that stage today was incredible." Marley smiled.

"Well we have known each other for about four years." Santana shrugged her shoulders. "It didn't take long to have the awesomeness that we have."

"That's right." Rachel nodded her head, giving a grin towards Santana, Brittany and Mercedes. "But don't worry Marley. We're going to whip you into shape so you'll be in top form."

"All right, sounds good to me." Marley beamed. Rachel couldn't help but smile back at her before taking another sip of her coffee.

"So Rachel, when's the wedding?" Mercedes wondered, becoming interested in Rachel's plans.

"Well, Finn wants it after Nationals because that's when everyone will be out of school and you can all come to the wedding." Rachel said, thinking about the preparation. "I still have to buy a wedding dress and bridesmaid's dresses."

"All right, but if we're going to do bridesmaid's dresses then we're not getting pink or yellow." Santana said as if she had disgust for the colors. "Make me bring a gigantic purse and fishnet stockings with a yellow dress; I'll look like the slutty version of La-La the female Teletubby."

"I like the Teletubbies." Brittany softly said, taking a sip of her coffee while the others stared over at her.

"Well, we're going to make New Directions the best that they could possibly be." Rachel simply said, giving everyone a grin. She sure hoped that she was going to help the New Directions win Regionals, but Rachel felt her confidence diminish a bit. How could she help the New Directions win Regionals, if she couldn't even help herself win the coveted role of Fanny Brice on Broadway?

* * *

At around one in the morning, Rachel and Finn lay in Finn's old bed; pressing kisses on each other's lips for the past three hours. Finn was still feeling sore from the car accident, so he wasn't able to properly make love to Rachel, but cuddling was just enough for now. Finn continued to stare at her, tracing circles on Rachel's bare arm.

"So what did you think of being back at McKinley?" Finn wondered, pressing kisses along Rachel's arm.

"I don't know, it felt kind of weird." Rachel admitted. Finn stopped pressing kisses on Rachel as his face twisted in confusion.

"What do you mean it felt weird?" Finn asked.

"Well, it was just…I don't know how I could lead a group of kids to a Regionals title when I couldn't even win a role on Broadway." Rachel sounded a bit distressed.

"Rachel, you don't know if you didn't get the role yet." Finn sounded exasperated as he explained to his fiancée. "The director said that he'll call you whether or not you got the role and you haven't gotten a call yet."

"I know, but I can feel that I didn't get the role." Rachel turned to face Finn to look him in the eye. "I just know I wasn't good enough to compete with those kids."

"Stop it." Finn spoke in almost a scolding tone. "You _are_ good enough, Rachel. I know you are. You are the best of the best and you will get the role. I have faith in you." Rachel noticed Finn taking one of his arms and pulling Rachel towards him. "You need to stop putting yourself down. Now, stop worrying about the role…okay?" Finn pressed a kiss on Rachel's lips, pulling her onto his lap. Rachel realized where this was going as she parted her lips from his and cupped his face with her hands.

"I thought you were sore…" Rachel raised an eyebrow as Finn cracked a smile.

"Well, I'm sure that's nothing you can't fix." Finn said in a breathy tone before placing a kiss on Rachel's lips. Rachel and Finn spent the next two hours in bliss as they showed how much they loved one another, but in the back of Rachel's mind while Finn made love to her, was that she was still worried about the role on Broadway. She knew she wasn't going to get the role—but maybe Finn had a point. Maybe she was overacting. She promised herself that she was going to be more optimistic about the outcome, even if she didn't get the role.

* * *

_Song Featured: When I Grow Up by The Pussycat Dolls (Sung by Santana Lopez, Quinn Fabray, Mercedes Jones, Rachel Berry & Brittany Pierce)_


	36. Rachel & Quick: I'm Yours

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Rachel, Kurt, Finn and Santana wen to Lima in order to help Quinn lead New Directions to a Regionals championship only to find Mike, Mercedes and Puck are there to help as well. Rachel's having self confidence issues after believing that she lost out the role of Fanny Brice on Broadway and Finn gave her a reality check. Brittany says that Blaine's being controlling of the Glee Club but that can't be true? Right? And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, although I wish I did.**

* * *

At around eight the next morning, Rachel entered the kitchen wearing her pajama shorts, fuzzy slippers and one of Finn's oversized t-shirts only to find that everyone else was there. Rachel's eyes wandered seeing that Kurt and Santana were sitting at the kitchen table, reading the _Lima Times_ while Finn took waffles out of the toaster. Rachel rubbed her face with her hand to get the sleepiness out of her eyes before realizing that she was standing in the kitchen hallway not looking her best.

"Well, well look what we have here." Santana smirked, stifling a giggle. "Rachel Berry with no makeup on, her hair a mess and wearing one of Finn's shirts. Wanky."

"Oh please, like you never borrowed one of Brittany's shirts when you two were dating." Kurt quipped, not looking up from the newspaper.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. But all I know is that Rachel and Finn gots it on last night." Santana continued with her signature smirk, while Rachel sat at the kitchen table. "You know Rachel; I had to say that I haven't seen you without makeup in almost a year."

"I know, and I try not to be seen without makeup." Rachel admitted as she looked at her reflection with a spoon. Finn walked over to put a plate of waffles in front of Rachel and pressed soft kisses near her ear.

"You should do the natural look more often." Finn suggested, sitting in the chair next to her. "I think it's sexy."

"The same guy who looks at the Victoria Secret catalogue to look at the models thinks that au-natural is sexy?" Kurt scoffed, still into the paper.

"Hey, I haven't picked up a Victoria Secret magazine in months." Finn defended himself. "Besides, I have something better to look at." Finn continued gazing over at Rachel in a love-struck daze as Rachel blushed.

"Well, aren't you sweet?" Rachel smiled, pecking Finn's lips before going back to her food. "So have you decided what songs the kids are going to do for Regionals?"

"I'm going to talk to Mr. Schue today before Glee Club and see if we can come up with anything." Finn smiled.

"Well, the waffles were delicious honey, so thank you." Rachel kissed Finn's forehead and rubbed his healing arm as she got up from her seat to head towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" Finn asked.

"To shower. I have to look beautiful when I go to McKinley!" Rachel rushed out of the kitchen and Finn chuckled.

"You already are beautiful!" Finn yelled after her. Finn turned to see Santana and Kurt eyeing him, then going back to his food.

"You and Rachel are quite the pair aren't you?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, we are." Finn smirked. "Oh, I have to go." Finn pointed to his stepbrother, getting out of his chair. "I guess the waffles are for the road."

"Wait, but Glee Club isn't till after school." Santana pointed out. "Where are you going now?"

"I have some business to attend to." Finn simply said as he ran out the door. "Tell Rachel I love her for me!" The door closed as Kurt and Santana looked at one another, simply confused.

"You're the one that's delivering Finn's message." Santana spoke up after a moment. Kurt went back to his newspaper, rolling his eyes. This was going to be one long week.

* * *

Rachel entered McKinley during lunch and headed straight to the choir room where she noticed Puck sitting there as if he was writing something. Rachel figured that it was for his screenplay, but when she saw the guitar next to him, she knew that Puck was either writing a song or composing the music for a cover song. Rachel decided to leave Puck alone for the moment and started to head to find Marley and the other New Direction members.

"I know you were there Berry." Puck called out, still looking down at the paper. Rachel hesitated, then walked over to Puck.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to slightly spy." Rachel apologized. Puck looked up to Rachel looking uncertain if he should tell Rachel what was on his mind. Puck and Rachel were never close friends—as a matter of fact, they weren't even friends, but Rachel was a girl and she knew what girls were like.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Puck softly asked. Rachel grabbed the stool and sat in front of Puck.

"Sure, what's bothering you?" Rachel asked.

"How do you know when you're…in love?" Puck sounded slightly embarrassed. Rachel thought about the question for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer.

"Well, love is very hard to explain, Puck." Rachel said. "But, if you love someone, you'd want to spend all your time with them. Every time you look at them, every time you touch them, they give you sparks. It's basically that your heart fills with joy every time you see them and only they can make your day better. Why do you ask?" Puck also knew that if he talked to a girl about a girl issue, they would want to know why they asked.

"Well, you can't tell anyone that I'm telling you this." Puck whispered. Rachel leaned in closer, still staring at Puck. "I'm in love with someone."

"You're in love with someone?" Rachel repeated. "Who…" Rachel was about to ask who the girl was but she didn't need to. She remembered at Breadstix and then after she and the other girls finished performing for the current squad of New Directions. "It's Quinn, isn't it?" Puck's eyes widened, wondering how Rachel knew.

"It was that obvious?" Puck got up from his chair, walking past Rachel.

"Not to everyone. Trust me, Finn would have been clueless." Rachel supposed, trying to make Puck feel better. "Look, I think it's sweet you still have feelings for Quinn and if you like her, then you should tell her."

"I can't just tell her, Rachel." Puck sounded almost afraid. "I mean, she's special. Plus she's in Yale. What would a girl that goes to one of the best schools in the country want with a Lima Loser like me?"

"Puck, you are not a Lima Loser." Rachel shook her head with her hands on her hips. "You're different, that's all. You're a great entrepreneur. Look at the pool cleaning business you have."

"Well, that's easy coming from you. You're Miss New York. Your fiancé is in New York with you along with Santana and Kurt. Mercedes is in California, Mike's in Chicago. I'm stuck here." Puck sighed. "I don't have a chance with Quinn, at all."

"That's what you think. I'm sure that Quinn still has feelings for you. I could tell when we were in Breadstix." Rachel smiled. "You know, I could help you get together with Quinn."

"I don't know…" Puck sounded hesitant.

"Oh come on Puck. You threw kids in dumpsters, you paint-balled Finn, you slushied kids and took their lunch money. You had the guts to do all those things…but you can't tell Quinn how you feel?" Rachel noticed Puck was still thinking about it, finally letting out a sigh.

"How am I supposed to tell her?" Rachel tapped her chin at Puck's question before a sly grin appeared on her face.

"I think I have an idea. Why don't you sing to her?" Rachel suggested.

"You want me to sing to her?" Puck asked.

"Yeah, it's one of the best ways of getting your feelings out in the open." Rachel sounded almost excited. Puck stared over at Rachel, looking at her as if she were crazy.

"Sing to Quinn? Did New York make you crazier than usual?" Puck incredulously speculated.

"No. Look, when are you going to realize that singing isn't lame?" Rachel pointed to one of the chairs and Puck took a seat with Rachel taking one herself. "You need to get naked."

"I need to what?" Puck sputtered, then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know Rachel, I mean you're getting married to Finn, but if that's what you want…"

"Not like that." Rachel snapped, letting out a sigh. "I meant you have to get naked _emotionally_. And the best way to do that is to sing your feelings. That's the best way you know how to get it out. When we were in Glee Club and you would sing, that was when I saw the real Puck. Not the Puck that pretends to be tough because he's afraid of getting hurt."

"So you think if I sing to Quinn, she'll know that how I really feel?" Puck inquired.

"Yes, that's what I believe." Rachel nodded her head. "I mean, she'll get the hint right away. She's not Brittany who needed to be sung to twice."

"All right then." Puck got up from his seat, feeling more confident. "I'm going to sing—on one condition."

"What's that?" Rachel asked.

"You have to get Quinn to show up in the choir room." Puck sighed. "I'm afraid she'd laugh at me if I try to get her in here myself."

"Deal." Rachel started to head towards the door but Puck looked as if he was going to say something else.

"Hey, Rachel?"

"Yeah?" Rachel stopped in her tracks to give Puck an inquiring glance.

"Thanks." Puck appeared sincere as Rachel gave Puck a small smile.

"You're welcome, Puck." Rachel left the room to go and find Quinn. She just hoped that this worked.

* * *

Quinn was currently sitting down at one of the tables in the library along with Mike, Mercedes, Kurt Brittany and Santana trying to go over the measurements for everyone to fit them in their costumes. Kurt had decided that he liked the ensemble that the New Directions wore last year when they did a tribute to Michael Jackson for Sectionals and decided to change it up a bit. Instead of the blazer being white, the blazer was to be black. The girls would still wear the black skirts but Kurt was contemplating on whether or not they would wear boots or tap dancing shoes.

"Tap dancing shoes?" Quinn raised an eyebrow towards Kurt.

"In order to beat the competition at Regionals, they have to know how to dance and what a better way to get them to dance than with…" Kurt egged Quinn to finish the sentence.

"Tap dancing shoes?" Quinn repeated.

"Yes, exactly! I mean, we would have to make sure they didn't click all over the place, but I think that this could be done." Kurt tapped his chin.

"I think that I can speak for everyone and say that it's a horrible idea." Brittany piped up. Everyone turned to the usually dunce blonde, seeing that she was serious.

"I have to agree with Brittany. It's a terrible idea.' Quinn looked to Brittany to give her a look that she was on her side.

"Well, I like the idea." Kurt huffed. "We'll see what the other Glee Club members think."

"Don't show it to Blaine because he'll tell us what to wear and what to do." Brittany warned Kurt.

"Britt, I'm pretty sure that Blaine isn't being a dictator towards the Glee Club." Kurt chuckled.

"That's what you think." Brittany looked to the design scrunching her face in disgust. "I mean, he'll probably make us wear bowties and then he'll sing all the songs. Lately it has been the 'Blaine Show' around here."

"It's gotten that bad?" Santana couldn't believe that Blaine out of all people would go Lima Heights on the Glee Club and tell them what they were going to do.

"Well he can't exactly tell you guys what to do now." Mike assured Brittany. "Remember, the alumni are here and the Glee Club is more into hearing what the alumni have to say since we did win Nationals."

"Does that mean that I count as alumni as well?" Brittany asked. "I mean, I was on the team that won Nationals."

"Somewhat." Santana slightly agreed. "You still have to graduate in order to _be_ alumni but you're well on your way."

"Good, because I have big plans after High School." Brittany gave a grin. The others looked to Brittany, interested in what her plans were.

"What plans do you have?" Santana became curious, staring at Brittany for a moment.

"I guess you'll have to find out when I graduate." Brittany stood up from the table giving a sly smirk. "I have to go and help Mercedes' clone into her dress for Glee Club. She changes more than the real Mercedes does. See you later." Brittany waved and walked past the others, as Santana couldn't help but chuckle. Santana had to admit, she was still in love with Brittany but the breakup between them was for the best…wasn't it?

"All right, back to the design." Quinn pointed to the paper. "They are not wearing tap shoes."

"We live in a world of democracy. Let's just ask the Glee Club when the club is in session." Kurt crossed his arms, looking down at the design.

"I have to admit, I love the idea of the outfit, it's just the shoes. The clicking of the tap shoes are going to give me a headache." Quinn rubbed her temples, just with the thought of clicking tap shoes all over the place.

"Tap shoes are no different than high heels." Kurt argued.

"All right, we'll let the Glee Club decide what they want to wear." Kurt got up from the table, as Quinn spoke simply letting out a playful smirk.

"I guess we shall." Quinn reciprocated Kurt's grin, still looking down at the designs. Rachel entered the library, seeing that Quinn was still there.

"Quinn." Rachel walked over to her friend, with Quinn looking up at Rachel.

"Hey Rachel, what's going on?" Quinn wondered.

"Puck said that he wanted to meet you in the choir room. He has an idea for Regionals for the kids and he wants to hear what you think." Rachel smiled, seeing that Quinn was quickly taking her stuff and leaving.

"All right, I'll meet him now." Rachel was sure that she saw Quinn's cheeks flush a bright red, meaning that she was excited to go and see Puck.

"So Quinn, I was just wondering." Rachel walked alongside her as they made their way to the choir room. "You still don't happen to have feelings for Puck, now do you?" Quinn looked to Rachel, unsure if she should answer the question.

"Well, I think I do have some feelings for him." Quinn admitted, but shook it off immediately. "But there would be no way that we could date. I mean, I go to Yale and he's…here."

"Well, I think that you need to give him a chance." Rachel insisted. "I mean, he obviously has feelings for you."

"What makes you so sure?" Quinn wondered, moving her head to the side.

"Have you seen the way he looks at you? He's head over heels for you Quinn Fabray." Rachel noticed Quinn was still a bit hesitant about the situation. "Look, I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I got back together with Finn, and it turned out he surprised me in more ways than one. Puck could do the same thing, you never know. I mean, time is short but this could be your fate…and he could be yours." Quinn and Rachel reached the choir room as Rachel started to head towards the courtyard. "Good luck Quinn!" Quinn contemplated on heading into the choir room to face Puck, but she knew she had to do it eventually. Quinn entered the choir room to see Puck strumming his guitar as if he were the only one on the planet. He looked so carefree and he actually looked happy.

"You wanted to see me?" Quinn asked, snapping Puck out of his trance. Puck turned to Quinn, his hands suddenly feeling sweaty.

"Yeah, I'm…I'm fine." Puck walked over to Quinn, holding the guitar in his hand. "I actually had a song that I wanted you to hear. I think you'll like it."

"What's the song?" Quinn sounded almost anxious. Puck turned towards the piano to get the song from the piano.

"_I'm Yours_ by Jason Mraz." Puck sheepishly said. Quinn walked over, giving Puck a smirk.

"How about we make this song into a duet." Quinn suggested. Puck automatically agreed as he started to strum the chords for the song. Quinn and Puck were lost into the song, and they had to admit into each other's eyes.

[Puck]  
Well you done, done me and you bet I felt it  
I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted  
I fell right through the cracks  
And now I'm trying to get back  
Before the cool done run out  
And I'll be giving it my best test  
And nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention  
I reckon it's again my turn  
To win some or learn some

[Puck and Quinn]  
So I won't hesitate  
No more, no more  
It cannot wait, I'm sure  
There's no need to complicate  
Our time is short  
This is our fate, I'm yours

[Puck]  
Do you want to come on scooch on closer dear  
And I will nibble your ear

[Quinn]  
I've been spending way too long  
Checking my tongue in the mirror  
And bending over backwards  
Just to try to see it clearer  
But my breath fogged up the glass  
So I drew a new face and I laughed  
I guess what I'll be saying is there is no better reason  
To rid yourself of vanities and just go with the seasons  
It's what we aim to do  
Our name is our virtue

[Puck and Quinn]  
But I won't hesitate  
No more, no more  
It cannot wait, I'm yours

[Quinn] (Puck)  
So I won't hesitate (So open up your mind and see like me)  
No more, no more (Open up your plans and damn you're free)  
It cannot wait, I'm sure (Look into your heart and you'll find the sky is yours)  
There's no need to complicate (So please don't, please don't, please don't)  
Our time is short (There's no need to complicate, cause our time is short)  
This is our fate (This is, this is, this is our fate)

[Puck and Quinn]  
I'm yours

As soon as the song ended, Quinn and Puck were eye to eye, fighting the urge to kiss one another. After an awkward moment, Quinn stepped back and looked over to the guitar. She knew that Puck could play guitar and sing but when he crooned Jason Mraz, it was almost sexy. Quinn walked around the room, trying to find the words to say before turning around to face him.

"That sounded really pretty." Quinn said. Puck nodded his head, placing the guitar down with a smile.

"Yeah, it was. That was actually the first time that I've sung Jason Mraz." Puck chuckled.

"Yeah, that was actually the second time that I sung him." Quinn playfully one upped Puck.

"Oh, that's right with Trouty Mouth. What song was that again? _Lucky_?" Puck pretended that he had forgotten for the moment in which Quinn giggled.

"Yeah…" Quinn nodded her head, then noticed Puck walking closer to her.

"Quinn…I know after this week, you're going to go back to Yale and I'll probably be stuck here…but after all the history that we've been through…I just can't stop thinking about you." Puck put a hand on Quinn's cheek as she continued to stare at him.

"Puck, I love you…you know I do." Quinn whispered but then turned her head. "But I just can't get into a relationship right now. I hope that you understand that." Puck looked at Quinn as if he had his heart torn out of his body. Quinn told him that she wanted nothing to do with him once she left to Yale. Puck backed away from Quinn, taking his guitar and walking out of the room, but not before kicking the garbage can and slamming the door. "Stop kicking inanimate objects! You're not Finn!" Quinn yelled after Puck, but he was long gone. Where he went, she didn't know…but the last thing she wanted to do was break his heart.

* * *

When Glee Club started, Finn rushed to the choir room where everyone else was already getting ready to talk about Regionals. Finn had been trying to locate Malcolm Reese so that he could talk to him about getting his father a semi-honorable discharge but he wasn't home. Finn had spent the whole day trying to locate him, but it was no use. Finn was going to have to try again tomorrow. Finn looked around and found Rachel had saved a seat for him. Finn headed over to the seat and pressed a kiss on Rachel's lips before taking his seat. Most of the Glee Club found it adorable, but Quinn and Puck almost felt as if it was sad. If Quinn had said the right words, then Puck would be with her right now. Instead she broke his heart and caused him to become upset with her. Puck stared over at Rachel and Finn and let out a sad sigh. Puck didn't blame Rachel for what happened since the advice she did give him worked for a moment. He was just disappointed that Rachel's plan didn't work.

"All right, Glee!" Mr. Schuester entered the room, looking over to the choir room. "Now before we start I'd like to thank Rachel, Finn, Quinn, Puck, Mercedes, Santana, Kurt and Mike for coming back to help us prepare for Regionals. These guys are National Champions and I'm sure that their genius could wipe off on you guys. Now, let's get started in trying to figure out what songs we're going to sing to fit the theme 'Groups.'."

"Mr. Schuester?" Marley raised her hand in the air. "When they say that the theme is groups, what does that mean exactly?"

"Well Marley, it basically could mean that it could be a song from a group or you could perform a group number. Now, did we decide what song we're going to do for Regionals?" Mr. Schuester turned to the Glee Club.

"I was suggesting Justin Timberlake." Jake raised his hand in the air while he spoke. "But Blaine over there shut down the idea."

"I actually like Justin Timberlake as an idea." Finn said. "I mean, it could be a great group number. Just think about it."

"Justin Timberlake isn't what the judges are looking for." Blaine crossed his arms.

"And how do you know what the judges are looking for?" Santana asked, now seeing what Brittany had meant in the library.

"I just mean Justin Timberlake or the Spice Girls or anything else isn't going to cut it." Blaine simply answered. "If we're going to win Regionals, we need to bring out the big guns."

"And what big guns are you suggesting?" Mr. Schuester focused on Blaine, wanting to hear what he had to say.

"Well, we could do a great Katy Perry number." Blaine suggested, but the suggestion earned groans throughout the choir room.

"Seriously? Katy Perry?" Kurt spoke up, raising an eyebrow. "You rather do Katy Perry for Regionals than someone who's a triple threat like Justin Timberlake? I'm sorry Blaine, but no one else wants to do Katy Perry."

"But it could be awesome." Blaine said.

"Well, it could be awesome but it's not happening." Kurt retorted. "And since we live in a democracy, I suggest that we vote. All those in favor of Katy Perry?" Only Blaine's hand shot up in the air. "All those opposed?" As soon as Blaine put his hand down, everyone else in the Glee Club raised their hands. "No Katy Perry."

"If this were the Warblers then we would have done what I suggested." Blaine snorted.

"That's just it Blaine. We aren't the Warblers and we aren't doing Katy Perry." Kurt argued back.

"Just why not? You're not the one that's singing it." Blaine got up from his chair to look at Kurt.

"But there are other people that would prefer to do more contemporary music." Kurt saw everyone nodding their head slowly, mostly because they figured Kurt knew what he was talking about.

"Well Justin Timberlake, the Spice Girls and the Jonas Brothers aren't going to win Regionals." Blaine became angrier by the moment.

"I thought we established Nick Jonas was a girl." Brittany spoke up, looking to Blaine.

"Britt, now's not the time." Santana put a hand on Brittany's shoulder while speaking in a soothing tone.

"Well, if this were the Warblers, there would be no arguing. The Warblers are men of character." Blaine snapped at Kurt. At Blaine's comment, Rachel broke out of Finn's grasp and stormed out of the room, something everyone else noticed.

"Way to go Burt Reynolds." Santana sarcastically hissed towards Blaine. "You offended Rachel."

"How did I offend Rachel?" Blaine didn't see the point.

"Yeah, how did Blaine offend Rachel?" Mercedes asked. Finn had a feeling as to what Rachel was upset about.

"Because Rachel was raped by a Warbler." Santana answered, her eyes still pointing daggers at Blaine. "So a man of good character rapes the competition now?" Blaine realized the error of his comment, but before he could apologize, Finn got up from his chair to look for Rachel. Everyone continued to stare at Blaine while he felt guilt pang him in the pit of his stomach. Blaine sat down and ran his hands through his hair, shocked of what he said. Puck, Mercedes and Mike's faces were more than in shock—they were in horror.

"Woah! I did not know that the Warbler dude violated Rachel!" Puck sounded outraged.

"Yeah, I didn't know that either." Mike felt himself become boiling in anger.

"Well, maybe this wasn't something Rachel wanted to share with the entire world." Marley thought aloud. Everyone turned to Marley, realizing that she had a point.

"You know Blaine, ever since you and Kurt broke up, you've been acting like a bitch, and I thought Auntie Snixx was the biggest bitch of them all." Santana snapped. Blaine looked over to everyone, seeing that none of their faces were friendly. Blaine took that moment to get up from his chair and exit the room. Glee Club was underway—and there was already more tension than anyone else had anticipated.

* * *

_Song Featured: I'm Yours by Jason Mraz (Sung by Noah "Puck" Puckerman and Quinn Fabray)_


	37. Finchel & Blaine: Run To You

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Quinn and Puck still have feelings for one another but Quinn can't act on them because she's going to Yale and Puck is stuck in Lima. Harsh. Finn tries to find Malcolm Reese but has trouble locating him. Blaine become more of a dictator to the Glee Club and says a comment that makes Rachel storm out of the room. Santana then calls him out. Wanky. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, although I wish I did. **

* * *

"Rachel! Rachel!" Finn yelled throughout the school, searching for Rachel. He knew that the Warblers were a touchy subject for her, but he didn't expect Blaine out of all people to bring them up. Finn continued to look around the school for Rachel, but the person that he bumped into instead was a sight for sore eyes—Sue Sylvester. Finn grumbled under his breath, trying to get past her but she wouldn't budge. "Coach Sylvester, do you mind moving out of the way?"

"Do you mind if I ask what in the blue blazes are you doing here? Last time I checked you don't go to school here and the more you alumni come here, the more it makes me realize you are sad pathetic creatures." Sue shook her head towards Finn. Finn didn't care what Sue had to say to put him down at that moment. Right now, he needed to find Rachel.

"Listen, as much as I would love to stand here as you belittle me, I can't." Finn walked around Sue then started heading down the hallway. "I have to find Rachel."

"It's funny; I thought she would never come back here." Sue smirked. "Isn't she some Barbra Streisand in New York?"

"We're helping New Directions for Regionals, so if you don't mind! I have to go." Finn walked down one of the hallways, avoiding Sue's glare. Finn shuddered as he continued to look for Rachel. Just where was she?

* * *

In the school parking lot, Rachel sat in Finn's car, crying her eyes out. She didn't care if her make-up smudged or if anything got messy. She needed to let her emotions out in the open. How dare Blaine make a comment about the Warblers saying that they were so chivalrous? One of them had actually taken advantage of her. She knew that Blaine was angry about not getting the song he wanted, but he had no right to make a comment like that. Rachel continued to cry until she heard a tapping noise on the window. Rachel looked up to see Finn tapping on the window, instructing her to open the door for him. Rachel reluctantly opened the passenger's seat of the car as Finn entered and sat in the seat next to her.

"That's the last time I give you the key to my car." Finn joked, trying to get a smile from Rachel, but instead all she did was cry even harder. Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel, sitting there in silence as she continued to cry. Finn looked to Rachel, seeing that she was wiping her eyes, wanting to explain how she was really feeling towards him.

"This has just not been my year." Rachel silently said, staring down at the tissue that was in her hand. "I mean what other girls can say that they were abused when they came home from vacation and lost out the role that they really wanted on Broadway to someone who is the daughter of the director? Not a lot of people can say that."

"Wait, you got the call from the producer of Funny Girl?" Finn wondered.

"Not yet but I already know that's what he's going to say." Rachel admitted. "I know that you told me to stop dwelling on it, but this is really bothering me Finn. I can't stop thinking about it. The thing is I don't even know what I did wrong. What did I do that was so bad that nothing could ever go my way?"

"I'm sure you're over exaggerating." Finn simply said.

"No, I'm not." Rachel looked up at him. "I lost you once, was raped by Hunter, had a pregnancy scare and most likely bombed my audition. My year isn't exactly looking like a great highlight reel."

"You've been watching _Sports Center_ again, haven't you?" Finn chuckled. "The Rachel I knew never would have used the words 'highlight reel'."

"You did leave it on this morning in your bedroom." Rachel cracked a small smile, then turned serious again. "Finn, what did I ever do to deserve something like this?"

"Nothing. You did nothing wrong to deserve something as horrible as this." Finn assured her. He then thought for a moment then let out a grin. "You know, this year so far hasn't been all bad."

"Oh yeah, what makes you say that?" Rachel huffed. Finn moved his hand to Rachel's cheek to make her look him in the eye.

"I came back, didn't I?" Finn let out a small smile. "And I promised that I was never going to leave you and that we're going to get married and have a happy ending like you wanted."

"You were the only highlight of my year." Rachel mumbled.

"What about the Glee Club? You've helped them to a Sectionals trophy Rachel." Finn pointed out. "You got on that stage with them when the chips were down and you helped them perform. Wasn't that fun?"

"It was actually." Rachel thought for a moment. She looked over to Finn, seeing that he was going into one of the compartments of his car. Finn came back with a paper bag and some tissues.

"Here are some tissues." Finn smiled at her. Rachel took the tissues but wanted to know what was in the paper bag.

"What's that?" Rachel wondered. Finn contemplated for a moment then opened the bag to show the glass that Finn bought in Chicago when New Directions performed at Nationals.

"This was the glass that I bought in Chicago when I thought we were getting married then. I saved it ever since." Finn admitted. "I was saving it and hoping that one day you would change your mind and we would get married. I want to smash this glass in the ground already, and I want to do it at our wedding." Rachel felt her smile widen as Finn continued to stare at her. "I know you had a rough year so far Rachel, and no one can say that theirs was rougher…but I am so proud of you. You're so strong and determined and you don't let anything get in the way. When I look at this glass, I remember how much I love you…and how much I want to be with you. You're the only one for me Rachel, and when we get married I can show the whole world how much I love you by taking a piece of this history with us and smashing it to the ground into bits and pieces." Rachel giggled at Finn's last sentence, pressing a kiss to his lips. Finn kissed Rachel back while rubbing her back comfortingly. Finn and Rachel parted their lips as Finn placed his forehead on hers. "I love you Rachel. Don't you_ ever_ forget that. And if you want, you can vent how much you wanted the Broadway role to me and I won't complain one bit." Rachel continued to stare at Finn but simply shook her head.

"No." Rachel said. Finn raised an eyebrow but Rachel's smile grew wider. "There will be other auditions, right? I'm sorry I've been so crazy about the audition and I've been venting to you when you have so much more on your plate."

"Rachel…don't say sorry. I'm here to listen." Finn's smile grew just as wide as Rachel's. Rachel felt tears stream down her face, which made Finn's smile disappear. "Rachel, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rachel assured him, the tears still streaming down her face. "I just realized that I don't want anyone else in my life…all I need is you." Finn smiled and pressed a kiss to Rachel's cheek as she wiped the remainder of her tears.

"Are you ready to go back into the Glee room with the others? I promise there won't be any other Warbler compliments."

"I think I was just over exaggerating." Rachel shook her head. "Just because Hunter did something to me, doesn't mean that I have to be afraid of the Warblers team. After all, they were the ones that helped bring Hunter to justice." Finn smiled proudly at his fiancée, pressing a kiss to her lips.

"God, I love you so much." Finn muttered against her lips. Rachel giggled slightly then went for her make-up bag.

"We'll go back…but I have to do my make-up again. I look like a raccoon." Rachel started applying her eyeliner while Finn gazed at her.

"Rachel, can I make a request?" Finn wondered. Rachel turned her head, nodding her head quickly. "When we get home…I want my au-natural Rachel. No make-up…her hair messy…and in my bed." Rachel blushed at Finn's comment, pressing her forehead to his once again.

"I thought that you were into the Victoria Secret catalogues." Rachel teased.

"You're the only thing I need." Finn simply said. "You're sexier than any Victoria's Secret model. And I realized that you were smoking hot when you did that Pussycat Doll number with the others." Rachel smiled and pressed a kiss on his cheek, going back to her make-up.

"Well then…I guess I'm going to have to make your wait worthwhile." Rachel smirked. Rachel finished applying make-up and placed her make-up bag in the glove compartment. She then turned to Finn with a smile and nodded her head. "All right, I'm ready."

"Wait…not quite yet." Finn leaned in and pressed a kiss to Rachel's lips, running a hand through her hair. As soon as Finn and Rachel parted, Finn let out a loving smile towards his fiancée. "I love you Rachel Berry…and you're my reason for being who I am today." Rachel hugged Finn tightly, then reached for the car door.

"After you Mr. Hudson." Rachel smiled. Finn got out of the car, grabbing Rachel's hand and leading her back to the Glee Club.

* * *

When Finn and Rachel reached the Glee choir room, everyone focused their eyes on Rachel, seeing that she was smiling and appeared to be in a perkier mood than when she left the room. They didn't want to bring up the revelation that she was raped by a Warbler to prevent upsetting her, but they were willing to help her in any way that they could. Rachel slowly walked to her seat as Finn followed her and sat next to her. Mr. Schuester walked over to Rachel and gave her a sympathetic look.

"Everything okay, Rachel?" Mr. Schuester wondered.

"Great." Rachel nodded her head, faking a smile towards Mr. Schuester. "Now, enough about me. Let's get these kids ready for Regionals."

"Wait…" Finn spoke, everyone turning towards him as he smiled towards Rachel. "If you don't mind Mr. Schue, I have something I want to sing." Mr. Schuester nodded his head, leading Finn towards the front of the room. Finn walked forward, keeping his eyes on Rachel. "Puck, Sam, Mike. Would you mind helping me out with this song?" Puck, Mike and Sam got up from their seats and headed to their respective instruments. Finn had learned that Mike was currently learning how to play the keyboard, so he gave Mike that job. Finn grabbed the microphone that was thrown to him by Mr. Schuester, then looked over to Rachel. He took a moment to compose himself, keeping his eye on Rachel then turning over to Puck. "Hit it."

She says her love for me could never die  
But that would change if she ever found about you and I  
Oh, but her love is cold  
Wouldn't hurt her if she didn't know, cause  
When it gets too much  
I need to feel your touch

I'm gonna run to you  
I'm gonna run to you  
Cause when the feelings right  
I'm gonna run all night  
I'm gonna run to you.

She's got a heart of gold, she'd never let me down  
But you're the one that always turns me on and keep me coming round  
I know her love is true  
But it's so damn easy making love to you  
I got my mind made up  
I need to feel your touch

I'm gonna run to you  
I'm gonna run to you  
Cause when the feelings right  
I'm gonna stay all night  
I'm gonna run to you  
Yeah, I'm gonna run to you  
Cause when the feelings right  
I'm gonna run all night  
I'm gonna run to you

When the feeling's right now

Oh, I'm gonna run to you  
I'm gonna run to you  
Cause when the feelings right  
I'm gonna stay all night  
I'm gonna run to you  
I'm gonna run to you  
Cause when the feeling's right  
I'm gonna run all night  
I'm gonna run to you

Cause when the feeling's right  
I'm gonna run to you  
Cause when the feeling's right  
I'm gonna run to you

As soon as Finn finished singing, everyone stood on their feet to give him a standing ovation. Rachel wasn't the exception there. Rachel clapped her hands, giving Finn a loving grin as he put the microphone down.

"How about we do something from the 80's as a group number?" Joe spoke up from the back of the choir room. "That would be a great number for Regionals."

"You know, you're right." Mr. Schuester pointed to Joe, then wrote 80's music' on the blackboard. "That would be great musical number. So, thank you Finn for giving us that idea for a number. And the song that you sung to Rachel was very touching."

"Bryan Adams is the god of love songs." Kitty agreed nodding her head.

"His music doesn't compare to anyone else's from the 80's." Marley put in her thought as Kitty nodded her head.

"All right then. Bryan Adams as a group musical it is." Mr. Schuester clapped his hands together. "Let's give it up for Finn!" Everyone clapped to Finn as he blushed heavily. He was only planning on singing to make Rachel feel better, but instead he killed two birds with one stone and found an artist the Glee Club could do for Regionals. "All right, class is dismissed, so we're going to meet in the Auditorium tomorrow and start rehearsing. Think of some more fun numbers that we could do for Regionals tonight." Mr. Schuester noticed the kids getting up from their seats and walking past Mr. Schuester, Finn and Rachel.

"Great job, bro." Puck patted Finn's back, then put the guitar down, avoiding eye contract with Quinn. As everyone filed out of the Glee room, Rachel grabbed her bag and continued to stare at Finn.

"You didn't have to do that." Rachel smiled. Finn walked over to her and nodded his head.

"Actually, yes I did." Finn put a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "I wanted to show you how much I love you. And that song pretty much summed up how I feel about you." Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn's neck, giving him a grin.

"Well, that was beautiful. Thank you." Rachel smiled. She then looked at the time on her watch, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, we have to go Finn."

"All right then." Finn nodded his head, turning his attention to Mr. Schuester who was smiling at his former co-captains. They were the best of the best, and it was because of Finn and Rachel's leadership that they were able to cap a Nationals victory.

"Well, I'm going to start skimming through song books." Mr. Schuester pointed to one of the books in his hands, waving to Finn and Rachel. "See you both tomorrow."

"All right Mr. Schue." Finn agreed. Mr. Schuester left the room, leaving Rachel and Finn in the room alone.

"So, we should probably go and find Blaine in order to tell him we're doing Bryan Adams." Finn feebly suggested. Rachel stared at Finn, nodding her head in agreement.

"And if I know Blaine as well as I think I do, I think I know where we could find him." Rachel led Finn to the auditorium, where they saw Blaine sitting on the stage as he was mentally beating himself up. Rachel walked over to Blaine slowly, staring at him. Blaine looked up to see Rachel and Finn standing before him, then turning his back to them.

"Blaine, we have to talk about this." Finn walked over next to Rachel as they both continued to stare at Blaine. "There had to be a reason that you snapped at everyone and started talking about the Warblers. Do you miss them or something?" Blaine continued to look down at the ground, not sure if he should tell the truth.

"I've been thinking about going back to the Warblers." Blaine finally admitted. "I mean, there's nothing here for me. Kurt's not on the team anymore, no one listens to a word that I say."

"And you think barking orders at everyone is going to make them want to listen to you?" Rachel shook her head.

"Isn't that what worked for you?" Blaine asked. Rachel's eyes widened at Blaine's question, stammering for a moment.

"Yes, Rachel did bark orders at everyone when we were in Glee, but that was because Rachel had the best voice in Glee Club and she had everyone's respect. She also knew what she was talking about and she gave others a chance to speak." Finn clarified. Finn walked on the stage next to Blaine and let out a sigh. "If you're going to be a leader of New Directions, then you have to be open to other ideas. You can't just simply say no because you don't agree with them."

"But did you hear what the suggestions were? Justin Timberlake? Spice Girls? Jonas Brothers? Are any of those going to win Sectionals?" Blaine sounded frustrated.

"Hey, you have to admit, the Warblers did Flo Rida and One Direction. No one thought that was going to compete." Rachel pointed out.

"But still. The Jonas Brothers are only going to get us laughed at." Blaine sighed.

"And why can't we do the Jonas Brothers? What if I said the Jonas Brothers were cool and I want us to sing them for Sectionals?" Finn smirked.

"But they have teeny-bopper music. No one is going to take us seriously except for 11-year-olds." Blaine argued.

"All right, since you think that the Jonas Brothers are so teeny-bopper, I'm going to present you with a challenge." Finn crossed his arms with a grin. "Tomorrow in Glee, we're singing the Jonas Brothers. You, me and maybe Puck."

"What? I am not singing the Jonas Brothers." Blaine shook his head.

"Well, I'm in charge of the Glee Club for the week and I say you are." Finn became serious. "There are so many different types of music Blaine. You need to get out of the Katy Perry phase. The Jonas Brothers will help you with that. Would you rather do the Jonas Brothers or Justin Bieber?" Blaine didn't have to think about that answer.

"Fine, we'll do the Jonas Brothers." Blaine said. "But I'm not sure I'm going to like it."

"All right, it's decided then. I'll pick out the song we're going to sing and tomorrow we'll sing for the Glee Club. And you better show up or else I'm getting Puck and Mike to drag you there." Finn turned back towards the stairs of the stage as Blaine stood there. "Remember Blaine, there's more than one way to be a leader of the Glee Club. Barking orders isn't exactly going to help, and will make everyone resent you. Instead of telling everyone what to do—lead them by example." Finn and Rachel walked out of the auditorium as Blaine stood there, thinking for a moment. How was he supposed to get in front of the Glee Club and do the Jonas Brothers?

* * *

When Finn and Rachel reached Finn's parents' house, Finn closed the door only to be attacked with a passionate kiss by Rachel. It took Finn a moment to process what was going on, but he closed his eyes and responded to the kiss. Rachel parted her lips from Finn's, giving him a seductive gaze.

"Now, why don't you go and sit by the television while I take off my make-up." Rachel traced her fingers on Finn's chest, then turned around to walk upstairs. Finn's eyes widened towards Rachel, his mind racing about how beautiful and extremely sexy she was at that moment. Rachel closed the bathroom door as Finn made his way to the couch, only for the door to open with Kurt entering the room.

"I don't understand what's wrong with Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed. Kurt put his keys down on the table as Finn let out a sigh.

"What can I help you with Kurt?" Finn sounded a bit impatient.

"I'm talking about Blaine! He came to the Lima Bean and started screaming about how he had to do the Jonas Brothers for Glee Club and how his opinion didn't matter to anyone." Kurt sighed.

"Yeah, I gave him the Jonas Brothers assignment." Finn nodded his head.

"Why did you do that?" Kurt sighed.

"Because…" Finn didn't really have a good excuse, but he decided to come with one. "Well, I was thinking maybe Blaine needed to chill for a moment."

"Oh please, you just want to see Blaine do the Jonas Brothers for your own amusement." Kurt chuckled.

"That was part of it…" Finn continued look at the staircase, which Kurt finally understood what was going on.

"Let me guess, Rachel's upstairs and you're about to do it?" Kurt asked. Finn simply nodded his head in haste, licking his dry lips. "All right then. Go and have fun…but I don't want to find a new baby in here in nine months."

"Wasn't planning on it." Finn rushed up the stairs as Kurt rolled his eyes playfully at his stepbrother. He had to admit that his hormones were a mess, but Finn really did love Rachel—a lot.

* * *

Finn reached the room and had his hand on the doorknob—until he heard the phone ring. Finn turned towards the phone then back down the stairs, hoping that Kurt was going to get the phone. When the phone continued to ring, Finn decided that loving Rachel could wait about two minutes. Finn got the phone and picked it up, although he didn't recognize the number.

"Hudson-Hummel residence. How can I help you?" Finn politely said into the phone.

"_Why hello there Finn…I wasn't expecting you to be in Lima_." The familiar voice sent shivers down Finn's spine—and not in a good way. Finn looked into the phone, then put it back to his ear.

"H…Hunter?" Finn slightly gasped.

"_That's right. Listen…it's funny how things work out. My lovely lawyer was able to get me a plea deal so I'm out on bail…surprise._" Hearing Hunter's words made Finn look out into the distance, his face turning pale. The last thing Finn remembered was him dropping the phone as his world was taken over by darkness.

* * *

_Song Featured: Run To You by Bryan Adams (Sung by Finn Hudson)_


	38. Finchel & Brittana: Pom-Poms

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Finn was able to find Rachel and he gave her this sappy speech about how much he loved her. It was actually kind of sweet. New Directions decided that they were going to do 80's music for Regionals. Finn got a call from the last person he expected to get a call from-Hunter. Oh and Finn totally fainted. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, although I wish I did. But how awesome was the Shooting Star episode of Glee?**

* * *

"Finn…Finn! Wake up!" In the distance, Finn could hear a familiar voice calling out his name. Finn's eyes fluttered open only to find that Rachel and Kurt were looking down at him, and that he was lying on the living room sofa. Finn groaned slightly as he sat up slowly, Rachel aiding him so that he wouldn't feel lightheaded and fall back down again.

"What…what happened?" Finn rubbed his head.

"Well, I heard a thud come from the hallway upstairs and when I figured it couldn't have been you and Rachel, I checked upstairs and found you unconscious on the floor with the telephone next to you." Kurt said. "Finn, you fainted."

"I did?" Finn seemed more awake after Kurt explained about the telephone. "Wow."

"Did you get a scary phone call from someone that you just decided to faint?" Kurt wondered. Finn suddenly remembered the reason that he did feel slightly woozy—Hunter had called.

"Um, it was something that that." Finn slightly admitted. Rachel sat next to him, rubbing his back soothingly.

"What was it? Who called you?" Rachel wanted to know. Finn looked Rachel in the eye, then turned to Kurt.

"Kurt, do you mind giving us a minute?" Finn asked. Kurt nodded his head, heading out of the room to give Rachel and Finn some privacy.

"Was it the director's for Funny Girl, because I gave them this phone number since I knew we would be here for the week?" Rachel quickly asked, hoping that was the reason. Finn shook his head, which settled Rachel down again.

"No, it wasn't the director of Funny Girl although I wish it was, now." Finn slightly chuckled. He then turned solemn, gazing into Rachel's eyes. "I got a phone call from jail."

"What? Who's in jail?" Rachel's eyes widened at the revelation. "Who do we have to bail out? Please don't tell me it's Puck."

"No, it's not Puck." Finn shook his head, then let out a sigh. "It got a call…from Hunter." Rachel suddenly tensed at the name, trying to recollect everything together.

"Wha…what do you mean you got a call from Hunter?" Rachel whispered.

"Just that." Finn responded. He was unsure if he should tell Rachel the next part of the story.

"So, what did he want from you?" Rachel's face turned serious, her eyes beginning to water as she looked into Finn's eyes. Finn couldn't lie to her, even though it was going to kill her inside.

"Well…Hunter said that his lawyer was able to get him a plea deal…so he's out on bail." Finn winced, knowing that Rachel was going to yell any moment. However, he was surprised when moments went by and Rachel stood silent. She showed no emotion on her face. Instead, she got up from the sofa and headed upstairs. Finn thought that Rachel took it pretty well—until he heard the smashing of an object hit the floor. Finn got up from the sofa and ran up the stairs, to see Rachel in Finn's room, packing her suitcase while sobbing. "Rachel, what are you doing?" Finn knew it was a dumb question to ask, but he didn't want Rachel to leave.

"I have to leave, Finn." Rachel started throwing her clothes in her suitcase. Finn stared over at her, walking slowly to prevent her from putting more clothes in. "Finn…Finn stop! FINN I HAVE TO GO!" Rachel turned her head towards his, seeing that he stopped trying to take her clothes out of her suitcase. Finn continued to stare at her, looking confused.

"But Rachel, where are you going to go?" Finn crossed his arms.

"I'll take a plane ride back to New York." Rachel felt the tears stream down her face as she spoke. "All I know is that as long as Hunter is free on bail, I can't stay here."

"Hunter is not going to hurt you." Finn rolled his eyes, but Rachel became livid at Finn's statement.

"Finn, how is he not going to hurt me?! Because of him I am more cautious than I've ever been! I don't want to live like this anymore!" Rachel screamed.

"But you were supposed help New Directions! What's going to happen to them now? If they lose Regionals, how would you live with yourself?!" Finn got into a shouting match as well.

"I'm sorry, but I need to leave. I can't stay here." Rachel didn't want to break her promise to New Directions, but her safety came first. "I have to go. I can't." Rachel closed the suitcase and started heading towards the door. Finn tried one last attempt to make her stay by grabbing the handle and staring at her.

"Rachel, I will protect you…just please don't go." Finn felt his voice breaking as he tried to fight back tears. Rachel continued to stare at him, seeing that he was just as upset as she was. "I know that he hurt you…but I don't want to lose you. I need you to stay here with me. And even if you do go back to New York, what's going to stop him from following you there? I won't be there, Kurt won't be there and Santana won't be there. Then you'll be all alone again, and you'll feel like there's no one that can help you. You went through that once before and it broke my heart inside…and I don't ever want you to feel like I can't help you." Rachel thought about Finn's words for a moment, seeing that he had tears streaming down his face. The last thing Rachel ever wanted to do was to make Finn cry, and that's exactly what she did right there. Rachel let go of the suitcase and ran into Finn's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Finn broke down and cried along with her, holding her tightly. For the next hour they sat on Finn's bed, holding one another as they slowly stopped crying. After Rachel wiped her tears, she looked to Finn to see that he was wiping his tears as well.

"There's something I have to tell you." Rachel softly said. Finn looked to her, still wiping the tears that were streaming on his face. Rachel noticed Finn nod as she took a deep breath in. "The reason Cassandra and Brody weren't in school for the last week was because they were on the run from the police."

"Wait, the police know that they were the ones that hit me with the car?" Finn's voice was filled with curiosity.

"Yeah, and it's mostly because Kurt, Santana and I got tapes and showed the police. They came and arrested Cassandra but she got away." Rachel was expecting Finn to be upset with her for keeping something like this from him, but instead he pulled her into a hug and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you." Finn quietly muttered, although Rachel was unsure why he was thanking her.

"Why are you thanking me? Because of me, Cassandra got away." Rachel began to feel guilty.

"Because now the cops, NYADA, everyone knows the truth because of you." Finn pointed at her, seeing that she was still staring up into his eyes. "They know what Cassandra and Brody have done and they're doing whatever it takes to get them behind bars. And for that, I have to thank you." Finn hugged Rachel tightly again and refused to let her go.

"I tried to get her behind bars because I love you…and I don't want to see you hurt because of her again." Rachel admitted.

"I know, and I love you for trying." Finn nodded his head, rubbing her back soothingly. "Are you going to be okay?" Rachel gazed into Finn's eyes before letting out a sigh of defeat.

"As long as you don't let me out of your sight for the rest of the week, then I don't see why not." Rachel said.

"Good, because I wasn't planning on letting you out of my sight." Finn playfully retorted which caused Rachel to let out a chuckle.

"I love you." Rachel gazed up at Finn as he smiled back at her.

"I love you too, Rachel." They shared a sweet, passionate kiss before Finn got up from the bed to head down the stairs. "Come on, we should probably tell Kurt what's going on."

"Yeah, we probably should." Rachel said after giving it some thought. Rachel got up from the bed, taking Finn's hand and walking down the stairs, with Hunter in the back of her mind.

* * *

The next day at McKinley, Rachel entered the hallways, on her way to the Glee choir room when she noticed the group of New Directions staring at her with a concerned look on their face. Artie motioned for Rachel to come over to them, as she slowly made her way to the group. As soon as Rachel got there, she didn't expect Brittany, Kitty and Marley to engulf her in a sympathetic hug.

"Oh you poor dear." Kitty spoke, giving Rachel a look of empathy.

"What's going on here?" Rachel raised her eyebrows towards the Glee Club.

"We heard from the news this morning that Hunter was released from jail after posting bail." Jake answered, staring over at Rachel.

"You must be so scared." Tina added, staring at her friend.

"I'm sure I'll never see Hunter." Rachel shook her head. "Besides, I have Finn and you guys to protect me."

"But what if there's one of those moments where Hunter finds you?" Brittany wondered. "I mean you could be anywhere and he could show up. He could show up here at school, he could show up at Finn's house. He could show up at a thrift shop while you're popping some tags and only have twenty dollars in your pocket."

"Guys, I'm not concerned about Hunter." Rachel lied. "I mean, I was worried yesterday but I'm not worried as much. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"But we can't help not worrying about you." Marley sighed.

"Well, don't." Rachel assured them. "Now, come on. Finn said that he was going to get Blaine to sing the Jonas Brothers in class today."

"If you're sure that we don't have to worry about you…" Kitty hoped that Rachel would reveal that she would need help, but Rachel simply shook her head.

"I'm fine. Come on. There's nothing to worry about." Rachel reassured the team. They looked to her, not sure if they should believe her, but they let the topic go. "Now, did you guys think of some great songs for Regionals?"

"Actually, as a matter of fact we did." Ryder pointed to his notebook with a grin. "We can't wait to show it to you guys."

"Great. Come on. Finn said that he had Blaine do the Jonas Brothers and I don't want to miss this." Rachel gave a cheeky grin towards the New Directions, then headed towards the choir room.

"Wait…Blaine singing the Jonas Brothers? This should be good!" Kitty ran past the others as Brittany looked to Marley.

"Well, Blaine does have curly hair so he does make a great Nick Jonas." Marley smirked.

"All we need to do is make sure he loses the hair gel." Brittany gave out a chuckle as the two friends headed into the auditorium.

* * *

New Directions along with Rachel took their seats, seeing that Finn was tuning his guitar, Puck was busy looking over to the other Cheerios and Blaine…was completely embarrassed to be doing this. Finn turned to Blaine, seeing that he was holding the microphone in his hand while looking unsure.

"I don't know Finn." Blaine sighed. "I never had done something like this before."

"What, sing the Jonas Brothers? I'm about to sing them in front of Rachel, which means I have guts. You need to have some guts too my friend." Finn patted Blaine on the back, then turned to the New Direction members that showed up. Most noticeably, Brittany, Santana and Quinn were missing from the group and some of the members were a little curious to find out why. "All right, so as you all may seem to know Blaine, Puck and I are going to sing the Jonas Brothers. First let me thank Puck for doing this for me and I will pay you $100 right after the performance. Second of all I would like to introduce you to the lead dancers in our performance, so let's give it up for Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce, otherwise known as The Unholy Trinity!" Finn motioned for Quinn, Santana and Brittany to come on stage and the other members gawked at them. Santana and Quinn looked like they were in high school all over again—in their old Cheerios uniforms and their hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. Brittany joined alongside them, smiling as she waved her pom-poms in the air.

"So, do you mind explaining to me why I'm dressed like a Cheerio? I thought I finished High School last year." Santana gave Finn a look as Finn put a pair of shades on his face.

"Because ladies…we need you to shake your pom-poms." Finn turned towards Puck and Blaine, then back towards the members of New Directions sitting in the audience. "Hit it!"

[Finn with Puck]  
Oh I love it when your hands are free  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me  
Come on shake it up 1, 2, 3  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me

[Blaine]  
She comes from miles away  
Just to see how you get down  
Feels like an earthquake  
Every time you come around  
You hear 'em say yeah!  
Every time feels like a revival  
So get up, right now  
And come in for the title

[Finn with Puck]  
Oh I love it when your hands are free  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me  
Come on shake it up 1, 2, 3  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me  
When you move I fall to my knees  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me  
Come on shake it up in 5, 4, 3  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me

[Blaine]  
Ladies to the left  
Fellas to the right

[Quinn, Santana and Brittany]  
If you want to see me put my pom-poms down  
Then sing it to me baby, sing it right now

[Finn, Puck and Blaine]  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na  
Na, na, na, na, na, yeah, yeah

[Quinn, Santana and Brittany]  
If you want to see me put my pom-poms down  
Then sing it to me baby, sing it right now

[Finn, Puck and Blaine]  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na  
Na, na, na, na, na, yeah, yeah

[Finn, Blaine and Puck with Brittany, Santana and Quinn]  
Oh I love it when your hands are free  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me  
Come on shake it up 1, 2, 3  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me  
When you move I fall to my knees  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me  
Come on shake it up in 5, 4, 3  
Baby, put your pom-poms down for me

As soon as the song ended, everyone got up from their seats and started cheering. Rachel simply sat in her seat with Kurt, clapping politely. She was never a fan of the Jonas Brothers and even after that performance, she still wasn't. She did enjoy Finn singing, though. Rachel realized she had more things on her mind—namely Hunter. Finn noticed in the audience when Rachel stopped clapping and just looked out into a daze as if she was simply thinking about something.

"Rachel?" Finn called out. Rachel turned her head, seeing that Finn was worried. Rachel forged a smile, but everyone in the room knew it was fake. Finn got off the stage and walked over to her, seeing that she quickly got up as Finn reached her. "Rach, are you okay? You didn't like the performance?"

"No, I loved the performance." Rachel told him.

"I loved the performance as well…" A voice that was none of the New Directions said. Everyone turned around towards the entrance to spot that an unwelcome face was among them. Hunter. The Hunter that used to be on the Warblers before he was arrested. The same Hunter that violated Rachel Berry. That same Hunter. "It was rather…cute." Finn felt himself tense up in anger, along with Puck and Mike.

"Hey, what's the name of that movie where the kids all killed each other for fun?" Puck turned to Quinn, still evidently angry.

"_The Hunger Games_?" Quinn elevated an eyebrow.

"All right, so let the Hunger Games begin…and the odds are not in Hunter's favor!" Puck darted of the auditorium stage along with Mike, before they were held back by Jake, Ryder, Blaine and blocked by Artie's wheelchair.

"Give me one good reason why we all shouldn't kick your ass right here and right now." Finn growled towards Hunter. Rachel hid behind Finn, looking over at him.

"There's no reason to." Hunter put his hand up, keeping his eyes on Rachel. "I'm here because I turned a new leaf."

"You turned a new leaf?" Mike scoffed.

"That's funny." Puck mocked then looked to Jake. "Let me go because this clown needs to be taught a lesson."

"Is that Noah Puckerman I see?" Hunter diverted his gaze from Rachel to Puck, while Rachel let out a sigh of relief. Hunter walked past Finn and Rachel, his eyes still on Puck. "Well if it isn't Puckerman…the guy who slept with every girl, and even has his own pool cleaning business where he sleeps with cougars?"

"I didn't know you slept with Lord Tubbington's cousins, Puck." Brittany somewhat whispered into Puck's ear.

"All right, here's what we're going to do Hunter. You're going to get out of here because you're making us all highly uncomfortable with your Taylor Swift comb-over." Santana walked in front of Hunter crossing her arms. "I also don't think Rachel wants you here…so if you don't leave, I will release Puck and Mike and they will ends you."

"You think your 'ghetto' talk is going to scare me?" Hunter smirked.

"No, but _I_ should scare you." Finn walked over, getting into Hunter's face. "Get out of here before I call security."

"All right, I get the point…" Hunter said after a moment of staring into Finn's eyes, looking calm. "I just wanted to say sorry to Rachel…" Hunter turned around, seeing that Rachel was staring out at him.

"Hunter, leave me alone…please." Rachel simply said. Hunter walked closer to Rachel, causing her to let out shallow breaths as she started to walk backward. Finn had enough of Hunter, so he ran over and used his only good arm to throw Hunter into the ground. Puck and Mike were able to break their grasps from the members of New Directions as they ran over and crowded him. "Puck! Mike! FINN!" Rachel yelled out with her eyes closed. The three boys turned to Rachel seeing that she was letting out ragged breaths. "Leave him alone. He's trying to provoke you so he could press charges on you and throw you in jail. I know how his mind works." The three boys looked down to Hunter and Finn and Mike somewhat relented. However, Puck wasn't as forgiving.

"So what? I already have a record." Puck simply shrugged then kicked Hunter in the ribs. "Stay out of here…and don't come back."

"Hey! What's going on here!" Everyone looked up to see Mr. Schuester running in the auditorium, staring over at Hunter on the floor. It didn't take Mr. Schue long to put two and two together. "Puck, Mike, Finn, get away from him. Santana, call security." Santana quickly started to head out of the auditorium but Hunter quickly got himself up to leave.

"This isn't over." Hunter stared Finn in the eyes then walked out of the auditorium. Rachel's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at Hunter, the door closing behind them. Rachel looked to Finn then walked over to embrace him in a hug. Finn was worried that Rachel was shaken up, but Rachel knew that Finn was more shaken up than she was. Rachel felt Finn's arm tremble, so she wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled her head in his chest. Finn didn't want to admit it, but he was feeling an emotion he wasn't supposed to be feeling: he was extremely scared.

* * *

After Glee practice, Brittany exited the classroom to find Santana coming out of the bathroom in her normal street clothes. Brittany gave Santana a smile, walking towards her friend while Santana combed out her wavy black hair. Santana let out a groan, removing some of the knots that ended up on the teeth of her comb and throwing it in the nearby trashcan.

"I always forgot why I stopped wearing my hair back. Now I seem to remember." Santana slightly joked.

"Yeah, it is a pain to untangle your hair after you're ready to go home." Brittany ran a hand through her hair. She then gave Santana a serious look as Santana ran a hand through her hair. "So, I wanted to ask you something."

"What did you want to ask?" Santana wondered. Brittany looked around, then leaned in closer to Santana.

"I heard from the tomato-vine that Brody assisted Rachel and Finn's dance teacher and hit him with the car." Brittany said.

"I thought it was grape-vine." Santana continued to gaze at Brittany.

"I like tomatoes better. Grapes remind me of the book the Grapes of Wrath where the Grapes took over the world and tried to hypnotize kids with their grape juice." Brittany shuddered. Santana squinted her eyes, wondering what Brittany was talking about.

"Brittany, that's not what the 'Grapes of Wrath' is about." Santana shook her head. "That was a story Stoner Brett read in English class. I heard it when I was passing by the classroom."

"You still didn't answer my question." Brittany simply said.

"Oh, right. Um, yeah…it's true." Santana agreed.

"So did you quit being a phone sex operator?" Brittany asked. Santana shuffled her feet while looking down as Brittany began to become angry. "You didn't quit?"

"Brittany, I could get a lot of money doing what I do, and I could help pay for my own share of the rent back at home!" Santana argued.

"Santana, I know I'm pretty stupid but what you're doing is dumb beyond compare." Brittany crossed her arms, her face turning serious. "Brody is still on the loose. You can get hurt. You need to be careful out there."

"Brittany, I'm fine." Santana sighed. "Besides, why are you so worried?"

"Because what you're doing is breaking my heart, that's why!" Brittany screamed. Santana and Brittany began to bring attention to themselves as Santana grimaced.

"Brittany, stop yelling." Santana ordered.

"Why? Is it that you're so embarrassed to be seen with me? Well…I can say the same thing." At Brittany's words, Santana felt her heart sink. Brittany never told Santana off before, and frankly it hurt—a lot.

"Brittany…" Santana croaked out but Brittany turned her back on Santana and started walking down the hallway, not saying another word to her. Santana felt tears stream down her cheeks as she turned away and started heading towards the Glee choir room, not wanting to see another person for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

_Song Featured: Pom-Poms by Jonas Brothers (Sung by Finn Hudson, Blaine Anderson, Noah "Puck" Puckerman, Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce)_


	39. Finn & Rachel: Are You Happy Now

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Rachel found out that Hunter was out of jail so she tried to go back to New York, but Finn was able to stop her and promise he'd be there for her. Blaine finally sang about the Jonas Brothers but after he did, Hunter gave a surprise visit to the New Directions in hopes of seeing Rachel. Brittany found out that Santana didn't quit her job and now she's mad at her, saying that she's embarrassed to be seen with her. Ouch. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, but I wish I did. Here's a new chapter of the story. Two more until Regionals!**

* * *

"You can't do this Sue!" Mr. Schuester yelled in the Principal's office the next morning. Currently, he and Sue Sylvester were discussing with Principal Figgins about the recent 'cease and desist' letter the Glee Club received—for wanting to cover Bryan Adams for Regionals.

"I'm sorry Will, but I cannot have the New Directions destroy the good name that is Bryan Adams." Sue countered, looking over to Mr. Figgins. "They already ruined Lady Gaga, Queen and don't get me started about the Britney Spears weeks. I'm still recovering from the Britney Spears sex riot from two years ago."

"But the kids were really into doing it." Mr. Schuester rolled his eyes, flapping the paper he had in his hand around. "Besides, it's not every day the alumni get to come home and help the current team. I mean, Finn sang this in Glee Club to inspire the kids—and to serenade Rachel but that's not the point. The point is, Bryan Adams is an icon that symbolizes love songs. If we don't get to do Bryan Adams then the kids are going to be terribly disappointed."

"I'm sorry William, but my hands are tied." Mr. Figgins sighed, looking to Will. "If Bryan Adams's record company sent the 'cease and desist' letter then you have to follow the rules. You're going to have to figure out something else." Will and Sue looked at one another as Will sighed. Will gulped before letting out the next sentence.

"So I'm supposed to tell the kids we can't do Bryan Adams?"

* * *

"What do you mean we can't do Bryan Adams?!" Finn bellowed once Will told everyone in the Glee room the bad news.

"That's the thing. They won't let the kids do Bryan Adams according to his record company." Will knew the kids were disappointed.

"This is just like My Chemical Romance all over again." Rachel pouted, crossing her arms.

"So we're supposed to come up with a new set-list before Saturday?" Jake sighed. There were only two days until Saturday and New Directions barely got a chance to rehearse the previous set-list.

"We'd just have to take out Bryan Adams, Jake." Mr. Schue tried to calm the kids down.

"But if we have to take out Bryan Adams, then that leaves nothing." Kitty argued. "We didn't come up with another song." As the others started complaining, Rachel felt her mind whirring, quickly coming up with an idea that was going to work.

"Mr. Schue, the theme is 'Groups' right?" Rachel wondered.

"Yes." Mr. Schue said.

"All right then, so instead of doing three group numbers, we'll do songs by groups. There will still be at least one or two group numbers but one of them would have to be a duet." Rachel thought aloud.

"What did you have in mind?" Mercedes asked, sitting next to Mike and Puck in the front row of the seats.

"I was thinking of having a duet to start off the set-list with Jake and Marley, then I was thinking we go to two group numbers. The key here is that we'll only use songs that were sung by groups." The New Directions couldn't argue with Rachel's logic.

"That sounds like a great idea, Rachel." Mr. Schue agreed.

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea." Finn nodded towards Rachel.

"Then it's settled. I'll take care of the set-list for the New Directions." Rachel said.

"All right, are we all in agreement that Rachel should be in charge?" Mr. Schue asked. Everyone quickly nodded their heads in agreement.

"All right, I'll get started on it during lunch." Rachel promised. Finn gave Rachel a small smile but when Rachel turned around to talk to Marley and Jake about what she had in mind for them, his smile diminished. Finn was worried that Rachel was putting too much on her plate, wondering if any of it had to do with Hunter. Finn would have to talk to her about it later. Right now he had other things to worry about.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the place?" Puck asked sitting in the passenger's seat next to Finn. Finn and Puck were parked out in front of a house, while Finn continued to look at the address.

"Yeah, I'm sure this is the place." Finn nodded his head, getting out of the car.

"But what if Malcolm Reese isn't home?" Puck began to sound frightened, causing Finn to chuckle.

"Dude, what are you so afraid of?" Finn opened the passenger door for Puck to come out.

"He was in the army meaning that he could be taller than the both of us." Puck exclaimed.

"Puck, Coach Beiste is taller than you. I'm sure you'll survive against Malcolm Reese." Finn reasoned with his friend. Puck and Finn made it to the door, but Puck took a step back. "What is it now?"

"You ring the doorbell." Puck feebly said.

"Fine, I'll ring the doorbell. He might not even be home anyway." Finn knocked on the door then stuffed his hands in his pockets, waiting for someone to answer. After a moment, Finn turned to Puck with a smirk on his face. "See Puck? No one's here." But just as soon as Finn spoke those words, the door opened with a force. Puck and Finn looked up at the man, and Finn had to admit that he felt a little intimidated.

"I'm not interested in buying your Girl Scout cookies!" The man shouted. Finn cleared his throat, still staring at the man.

"I'm not selling Girl Scout cookies." Finn stated. "Are you Malcolm Reese?"

"Why you ask? Are you cops?" the man looked down at Finn.

"Why, did you do something?" Puck chuckled. The man tensed, then shuffled his feet.

"No, why do you want to know?" The man squeaked. Finn rolled his eyes and nudged Puck in the ribs.

"We're not cops, don't listen to him." Finn pointed to Puck then let out a sigh. "My name's Finn Hudson and if you're Malcolm Reese…"

"Wait a minute…you're Finn Hudson?" The man pointed towards Finn. "All right, my name is Malcolm Reese. I knew your dad."

"You knew Christopher Hudson?" Finn repeated.

"Yeah, he was my partner in the army…before he was unfairly discharged." Malcolm looked around then opened the door for Finn and Puck to come in. "We can talk inside." Finn and Puck followed Malcolm inside of the house and into the living room. Puck and Finn sat on the beige couch while Malcolm sat in the recliner.

"Do you mind if I ask a question before we get started on going back down to memory lane?" Puck raised his hand as if he were in school.

"Shoot." Malcolm leaned back in his chair.

"How did you get the name Malcolm Reese? That can't be your real name, is it?" Puck chuckled.

"Actually, my real name is David, but I'm such a big fan of the T.V. show _Malcolm in the Middle._ I legally changed my name to Malcolm after I was discharged from the army. It might have also helped that my middle name was Malcolm and that's all Christopher would call me." Malcolm recalled.

"All right, let's get back to the story at hand." Finn waved a hand before Puck then looked back towards Malcolm. "How well did you know my dad?"

"Oh, I met your dad when we were in the middle of training." Malcolm smiled at the memory. "He was holding the gun wrong and almost shot himself in the thigh." Finn grimaced at the thought since he remembered that he shot himself in the thigh when he tried out for the army. "Ever since then, your dad and I were two peas in a pod. I always admired your father Finn. He was so strong, courageous, brave…and he had everything that I wished I could be. I remember this one time where he saved these kids from getting in the middle of an altercation. Man, he made sure all of them were safely in one of the houses, then he sneakily was able to shoot and kill the enemy. Christopher had a soft spot for kids. He really did."

"I could figure." Finn chuckled, thinking about his dad faintly. "I just want to know what happened. Why was he dishonorably discharged? I mean, I know he let drugs get the best of him but…he did so much good but all he's going to be remembered for is making that one mistake. Apparently no one remembers all the good a person does once one bad thing overshadows it."

"Unfortunately that's true Finn." Malcolm sympathized. "Christopher was my best friend…and when they discharged him I was heartbroken."

"But why didn't you do something about it?" Puck wondered.

"I wanted to, I really did. But they were planning on kicking me out of the army with no place to go. I would have lost everything." Malcolm sighed. "I knew there was nothing I could do to help him then and after he died I blamed myself. I want to do something to help him."

"You want to help my dad?" Finn leaned in, staring at Malcolm. "Then you have to help me get him an honorable discharge. Everyone will only remember him for one thing…but we can change that and make everyone see despite the wrongs he had done, he was still a hero. I only need your help, Malcolm. Please." Finn looked to Malcolm in hopes of getting him to join him. Malcolm looked Finn in the eye, then released a smile.

"You want my help? You got it kid." Malcolm agreed. "I let Chris down once. I'm not going to let Chris down again." Finn and Puck eyed one another and gave each other a fist bump. One part of Finn's plan to get his father an honorable discharge was complete. Now, he just hoped the rest of his plan would work.

* * *

Rachel sat in the McKinley library, looking through a book of songs so she could get an idea for Regionals. She needed it to be perfect, and she had to think fast before Saturday. Saturday was two days away! As Rachel continued to skim through the book, Marley entered the library with her lunch, noticing that Rachel was sitting by herself. Marley decided to take this as the opportunity to get to know Rachel a little better. Marley sat opposite of Rachel, something Rachel suddenly noticed.

"Oh, hi Marley." Rachel smiled then looked back to the book.

"Are you still looking through songs to see what we should sing?" Marley wondered.

"That's exactly what I'm doing." Rachel nodded her head, flipping one of the pages. "As a matter of fact, there are a lot of songs in here that we could do that are made by groups."

"As long as it's not KC and the Sunshine band then I'll be fine." Marley chuckled. Rachel chuckled along with her, thinking about the time that the girls and boys were on over the counter medicine and gave extremely energetic performances.

"I'm with you there." Rachel smiled. Marley pursed her lips, wondering if she should ask what was on her mind. The thoughtful expression on her face caught Rachel's attention. "Marley? Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing…just…" Marley stammered then looked Rachel in the eye. "You don't worry about Hunter being in Lima while you're here, do you?"

"Me, worry about Hunter being in Lima?" Rachel repeated, her face turning blank. "I…I don't really have anything to worry about. As long as I have Finn then Hunter won't hurt me. I'm not hiding anything from Finn this time."

"All right, I just want to make sure." Marley let out a smirk while Rachel suddenly became uncomfortable. "Look Rachel, I just want you to know that we're here for you…no matter what." Rachel looked to Marley, thinking it over for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"I know you are, but I'm fine Marley. I mean, Hunter can't hurt me because you guys are here for me." Rachel got up from the chair, seeing that Marley suddenly regretted her question.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to step where I didn't belong." Marley softly said. Rachel gave Marley a warm smile, shaking her head.

"It's all right. You're just being a good friend like everyone else is doing." Rachel put a hand on Marley's shoulder. "You know you're really amazing Marley Rose. I just thought you should know that." Marley gave a grin towards Rachel, the guilt vanishing in an instant.

"You're pretty awesome yourself." Marley smiled. Rachel nodded her head, not exactly feeling as special as she should in that moment.

"Well, even us awesome people have to go and find ourselves sometimes, right." Rachel chuckled. She looked at the clock, realizing that she was supposed to meet Finn, Puck and Mike in the auditorium. She wanted to run something by them since they offered to help her with the set-list. "I have to go and meet some of the guys to run the set-list by them but I'll see you later, okay?"

"All right." Marley nodded her head and went to eat her carrots. Rachel gave Marley a friendly smile then headed out of the library towards the auditorium. As Rachel reached the auditorium, she noticed that someone was already sitting in one of the seats. Rachel figured that it could have been Finn, so she let out a wide grin and went over for a hug. Rachel suddenly stopped when she noticed the person seated wasn't Finn—it was Hunter. Rachel took a step back, seeing that Hunter was letting out a smirk.

"Rachel, it's good to see you here." Hunter chuckled, then got up from his chair. Rachel started to back away from Hunter, feeling as if she was in danger.

"How did you get in here?" Rachel emitted from her lips.

"The security guard fell asleep. That's all." Hunter shrugged his shoulders, seeing that Rachel was still backing up. "Rachel, there's no need to be afraid." As soon as Hunter said that, Rachel started to make a dash for the exit of the auditorium until Hunter ran after her and grabbed her. Rachel started to let out a scream but Hunter put his hand over her mouth to muffle the screams. "Rachel, you should really let me finish speaking before you exaggerate everything." Hunter spoke in a calm tone despite the circumstances. Rachel felt the tears stream from her face as she continued to scream. She had to figure out a way to get out of Hunters grasp, and that was when she thought of the perfect way: she stomped on Hunter's foot with her high heels, causing him to let go of her. Rachel took a step back, going for her iPhone in her pocket.

"I'm calling Finn and the police." Rachel shook her head as she started to dial 911. Hunter walked over to her, snatched the phone out of her hand and threw it to the wall, destroying the phone in multiple pieces. Rachel stopped crying for a moment to realize that her phone was no longer in working order. "You…you smashed my phone. YOU SMASHED MY PHONE!" Rachel yelled, her fists balled up. If she didn't feel like crying back then, then she sure felt like crying now!

"Well, it was your fault. You were the one that was being stubborn." Hunter leaned closer to Rachel, attempting to put his forehead on hers. Rachel had enough of Hunter and pushed him into one of the auditorium chairs in anger. She stared down at him, realizing what she had done…her breaths ragged. Hunter got up from his position, charged Rachel and slapped her across the face, causing her to fall back and onto the floor. Rachel held her cheek in shock while staring down at Hunter, realizing that it was going to leave a bruise later. "I'll finish you later…don't you worry, Rachel Berry. Don't you worry." Hunter turned back around and left the auditorium quickly while Rachel continued to hold her cheek. She felt tears stream down her face as she got up from the floor slowly, walking over to the stage, holding back her sobs. Rachel didn't realize that the Glee band was already there and they had flipped through a song and started to play it for rehearsal, giving Rachel the saddened option of singing along with the band. Maybe she would feel better if she did?

No, don't just walk away  
Pretending everything's okay  
And you don't care about me  
I, know it's just no use  
When all your lies become your truths  
And I don't care

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Could you look me in the eye  
And tell me that you're happy now  
Would you tell it to my face  
Or have I been erased  
Are you happy now  
Are you happy now

You, took all there was to take  
And left me with an empty plate  
And you don't care about it  
And I, am giving up this game  
And leaving you with all the blame  
Cause I don't care

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Could you look me in the eye  
And tell me that you're happy now  
Would you tell it to my face  
Or have I been erased  
Are you happy now  
Are you happy now  
Are you happy now

Do you really have everything you want  
You can't ever give something you ain't got  
You can't run away from yourself

Yeah, yeah

Could you look me in the eye  
And tell me that you're happy now

Yeah, yeah

Come on tell it to my face  
Or have I been replaced  
Are you happy now

Yeah, woah

Would you look me in the eye  
Could you look me in the eye

I've had all that I can take  
I'm not about to break  
Cause I'm happy now  
Are you happy now?

After singing, Rachel was wrong…she didn't feel much better. Instead she felt worse. Rachel sat down on the auditorium seat, sobbing while covering her face. She didn't even notice Finn, Puck and Mike entering the auditorium to meet her about Regionals. The boys were in the middle of their own conversation about meeting Malcolm Reese and getting Finn's father an honorable discharge.

"So you think he's going to be able to help you?" Mike wondered as the boys headed down towards the stage.

"I think he can, I mean he seemed pretty cool so I guess…" Finn stopped in his tracks when he saw Rachel sobbing on the stage, not even noticing the boys. Finn, Puck and Mike gave one another panicked looks before rushing to the front of the stage to help Rachel. "Rachel, hey…what's going on?" Finn quickly got in front of Rachel and tried to pick up her head with his finger, but when he did, he noticed a bruise on the side of her face. Finn's eyes widened as Puck and Mike's expression turned violent. Finn pressed his hand on Rachel's bruised cheek for the moment, then furrowed his eyebrows. "Who did this to you?" Finn's voice was harsh. He didn't mean to sound that way towards Rachel but he was so upset that someone would strike his fiancée. Rachel looked Finn in his eyes, her mascara and eyeliner running down her face along with her tears.

"Berry, if you don't tell us who did this to you then I will punch that wall." Puck pointed towards the wall as Rachel continued to stare at Finn. Rachel gulped for a moment, then let out the name as she burst into tears again.

"H…Hunter." Rachel sobbed. Finn automatically hugged Rachel closer to him as he soothed her. Puck clenched his fists, shaking his head.

"That's it! I don't care if I get arrested! That little punk is going to get the beating of a lifetime!" Puck started to walk towards the exit before Rachel looked to him.

"Puck! No!" Rachel yelled out through tears. Puck turned around, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Rachel! I may be an ass to everyone, but if there's one thing I don't tolerate, it's someone putting their hand on a woman, especially on one of my friends!" Puck walked over to Rachel seeing that she had stopped crying.

"I'm…I'm your friend?" Rachel stammered, questioning Puck softly. Puck's expression softened as he nodded his head.

"Yeah, you're my friend." Puck let out a small smile as Rachel continued to stare at him. "And I know I suck at being a friend but…I want you to know that Finn, Mike and I will hunt down Hunter…and we will give him the beating of his life." Rachel shook her head towards Puck, letting out a small mischievous smile throughout her tears.

"No…we're not going to get him back by beating him up." Rachel said. "I have a better idea."

* * *

Hunter walked along a nearby Lima Parking lot, staring down at a text message that he received. He was told that he was supposed to meet the Warblers here so that they could discuss him coming back to the club. He was surprised that they would have wanted him back especially after he broke their conduct rules in the worst ways possible, but Hunter didn't care. Give him a Warbler jacket and some harmonies and he'd be set. He looked around the parking lot, unsure exactly where the Warblers were. Maybe they were running late?

"Hello…Hunter." A voice that wasn't any of the Warblers creepily said. Hunter turned around, holding his breath slightly. What the hell was going on here? Hunter saw Finn come out from hiding, along with Mike and Puck, the three of them wearing gigantic grey hoodies.

"What…what do you want?" Hunter tried not to sound scared, but he knew that it couldn't have been good.

"You know Hunter, we saw Rachel today after you attacked her." Finn growled as Puck and Mike joined him. "How did she get a bruise on her cheek? I sure as hell didn't do it and neither did my boys here…so that means it must have been…_you_."

"You don't have proof that I did that to Rachel." Hunter shook his head.

"Are we really playing this game again?" Finn shook his head, staring at Hunter. "Listen, I know that you did it because Rachel doesn't lie. She said it was you, and given the circumstances of what you did to her during Sectionals, I have to say I believe her. Plus her iPhone was smashed into a million pieces and you're getting in the way of her dreams."

"What _dreams_ could she have anyway?" Hunter scoffed. "She keeps coming back here. I don't get why she likes Lima so much."

"She's coming back here to help her friends, but I have to ask why do you keep coming back? Who did you pay to get out of prison?" Finn snarled.

"I have my own little system in there. I know how things work so I was able to take the top spot in no time." Hunter gave a smug look towards Finn. "But I don't get why you're so upset. I mean, Rachel's just a girl and a girl needs to be with someone so she could satisfy a man's needs. You're not a man."

"I'm a man." Finn's face contorted into rage. "You're a _pig_. No girl would ever want to be with you because you're rough, you're pushy and you're not a good listener. And besides, Rachel knows how to satisfy me and she doesn't have to do what you're trying to force her to do to make me happy. Just her smiling face gives me satisfaction. All you're thinking about is trying to have your way with her."

"All right, so you called me here. What the heck did you want?" Hunter shook his head.

"You know, we were going to give an eye for an eye because of what you did to Rachel." Puck shrugged his shoulders. "You know, since she has a bruise on her cheek then you should have one too…but that's not how we took care of things in McKinley while we were there."

"Oh yeah? How did you take care of things?" Hunter let out a snicker. Finn, Mike and Puck gave one another knowing glances before taking a cup filled with liquid from behind their backs.

"This is how we deal with people like you, you son of a bitch." Finn growled under his breath, then he, Puck and Mike slushied Hunter in the face. Hunter was shocked with what just happened and all he could see was a cold, icy rainbow in his eyes. Once Hunter was able to get the slushie out of his eye, he noticed Finn, Puck and Mike were gone—and Hunter was beginning to think of ways for revenge. They messed with the wrong ex-Warbler.

* * *

_Song Featured: Are You Happy Now by Michelle Branch (Sung by Rachel Berry)_


	40. New Directions: Ready To Go

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Hunter came to McKinley and he hurt Rachel which caused Finn, Mike and Puck to slushie him as payback. Finn went to visit Malcolm Reese to get his father an honorable discharge and Malcolm decides to help him. Puck is bummed because Quinn won't get back together with him because of how far they are from each other, which upset Puck. Ouch. New Directions is getting ready for Regionals. Let's just hope that they can get through Regionals more smoothly than Sectionals. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did. Who's excited on having Seasons 5 & 6 of Glee?! I know I am! Enjoy the chapter and the next one is...Regionals!**

* * *

The day before Regionals came upon New Directions and they were hard at work on trying to perfect their set-list. So far, they had spent all day trying to make sure they're dance moves were flawless and their vocals were pitch perfect. But, it would have helped if Rachel had her head in the game. She was too busy thinking about what Hunter would do to the boys after they slushied him senseless. Rachel felt there was something off about the whole thing. Hunter would have gotten his revenge on Finn, Mike and Puck right then and there—but instead he didn't even bother trying to find them in the parking lot. That was when Rachel knew that Hunter was plotting something. She wasn't going to admit it, but she was also thinking about her audition for _Funny Girl. _Since Hunter broke her phone, Rachel had to give the director Finn's phone number, but afterwards she hadn't hurt a word from them on whether or not she got the role. It was beginning to take a toll on Rachel. She wanted to know so that she could move on and focus on other things if she didn't get the part. Rachel sat there almost in a daze as Finn turned his head over towards her. Finn and Kurt gave one another inquisitive glances then back towards Rachel.

"Earth to Rachel! Come in Rachel!" Kurt snapped his fingers in front of Rachel. Rachel noticed and stared at Kurt and Finn in confusion.

"Are you okay?" Finn sat next to Rachel, rubbing her back soothingly. "You seem a little out there."

"I'm fine." Rachel shrugged her shoulders and got up from the chair. "I'm okay."

"Well, we just want to make sure." Kurt crossed his arms, still staring over at his friend.

"Well, I'm fine." Rachel tried to assure them. Finn then got up from the chair and pulled Rachel closer to him, staring into her eyes.

"Come on Rachel, talk to me. What's bugging you?" Finn softly questioned. Rachel placed her forehead to her fiancé's, wondering if she should tell him. She then let out a sigh while looking frazzled.

"It's just that…" Rachel muttered. "I mean I know it sounds silly but I'm afraid that Hunter is going to do something to you after you slushied him.

"You slushied Hunter?" Kurt turned to Finn, looking as if Finn had done the unthinkable.

"Well he bruised Rachel across her face, what did you want me to do?" Finn argued back, then let out a smirk. "At least he got to taste the rainbow." Kurt scowled towards Finn with Rachel worried that the two stepbrothers were going to end up in a fight.

"Guys." Rachel gave them each a stern look.

"Sorry." Finn and Kurt spoke in unison.

"Look, maybe it's nothing…maybe I'm overreacting." Rachel told herself that. Finn nodded his head, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe babe." Finn added, trying to make her feel better. "Let's just worry on helping the kids get ready for tomorrow. Regionals are going to wipe them out if we don't train them."

"All right, I guess we should get started." Rachel headed over to the New Directions members to prepare them in doing scales, but Finn had the same worry Rachel had in the back of his mind. Just what was Hunter up to?

* * *

New Directions took a break from rehearsing which allowed the alumni to sit in the auditorium and eat their lunch. Everyone was going to stay in Lima a day after Regionals but come Monday, they were all going their separate ways again with Finn, Rachel, Santana and Kurt going back to New York, Quinn going to Connecticut, Mercedes going to Los Angeles and Mike going to Chicago. However, Puck felt like he was stuck in Lima. He was going to be a Lima loser for the rest of his life. He also couldn't stop thinking about Quinn. He knew that Quinn felt the same way about him, but she didn't want to start anything since she was going back to Yale.

"Puck? Puck!" Puck turned his head to see Kurt staring at him.

"What?" Puck snapped out of his daze as the others stared at him.

"We were talking about the New Directions and how we think they're going to perform." Kurt repeated the question.

"They'll be fine." Puck said after a moment, shaking his head to rid his thoughts of Quinn. "I mean, they have my brother. So some of the Puckerman goodness had to have rubbed off on those wannabe champions."

"Well, that's…one way to put it." Finn wasn't sure what was up with Puck, but he decided to change the subject. "Anyway, so I'm directing the school play at NYADA and Opening Night is in June, two weeks before the semester ends. If you guys aren't busy you should come."

"Oh, you're talking about _Les Miserables?_" Mercedes smiled. "Rachel and Kurt told me."

"Aww, you told them?" Finn turned to Rachel, seeing that her smile was wide.

"I just wanted everyone to know." Rachel innocently said. "I was so proud of you and I needed everyone to know." Finn let out a wide grin, pressing a kiss to Rachel's forehead.

"Thank you." Finn simply stated.

"We'll definitely be there." Quinn promised.

"Although I hate Broadway musicals, I'll be there." Puck nodded his head. "I need to be there for my bro. Plus, he's going to need all the help that he can get when it comes to the reviewers commenting on his play."

"Wait, reviewers?" Finn's eyes widened at the thought.

"Yeah, when you're running a Broadway play, people tend to give reviews." Kurt answered, looking at his stepbrother. "It tests your boundaries as a director."

"But, what if they think it's bad. Then it will feel like that I'm failing the kids and that would make me a crappy teacher." Finn began to panic.

"All right listen, you're going to be fine." Rachel assured him. "You know why I believe that? Because you're Finn Hudson and you're not going to let anything stop you, no matter what. And I'm going to be there Opening Night, watching the play that my fiancé put together." Rachel's words calmed Finn as he held Rachel closer to him.

"And that's why I love you." Finn gave Rachel a loving smile.

"Well, break time is over." Mercedes got up from the chair, as the others began to follow her. "Time to continue whipping the New Directions into shape." The alumni agreed it was a good idea, and they were on their way out of the auditorium to the choir room—except for Quinn and Puck.

"We'll meet you there." Quinn promised. Quinn had wanted to talk to Puck about what happened the other day, how she didn't want to make Puck think that she wasn't willing to get back together with him because she didn't love him back. The truth was, Quinn _did_ love Puck but the fact of the matter was that Quinn went to college in Connecticut. Who _knew_ where Puck was going to end up. Puck continued to stare at Quinn, not sure what she wanted from him.

"Why are we still in here?" Puck asked. Quinn walked past Puck, getting on the stage and turning back around towards him.

"I was thinking since we weren't going to be here after Regionals, we could sing together one last time." Quinn suggested. Puck continued to stare at her as if she had three heads. She wanted him to _what_?

"You want me to sing with you?" Puck pointed to her. Quinn looked over to Puck, feebly shrugging her shoulders.

"I mean if you don't want to sing with me then I understand." Quinn put her hands up as if she was going to change her mind. Puck simply chuckled then walked up on the stage. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Puck wondered. "I'm going to sing with you." Quinn let out a smile as Puck went over to the guitar stand and grabbed a guitar. "I actually have a song in mind; just join in whenever you feel like it." Quinn simply nodded her head as Puck started to tune the guitar. He then continued to stare at Quinn as he started strumming the guitar. After Puck had gotten through the first verse, Quinn joined in, singing along with Puck as they gazed into one each other's eyes, remember all the feelings they had for one another during High School.

[Puck]  
A hundred days have made me older  
Since the last time I saw your pretty face  
A thousand lies have made me colder  
And I don't think I can look at it the same  
But all the miles that separate  
Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face

[Puck with Quinn]  
I'm here without you, baby  
But you're still on my lonely mind  
I think about you, baby  
And I dream about you all the time  
I'm here without you, baby  
But you're still with me in my dreams  
And tonight there's only you and me

[Puck]  
Everything I know, and anywhere I go

[Puck and Quinn]  
It gets hard but it won't take away my love

[Puck]  
And when the last one falls  
When it's all said and done

[Puck and Quinn]  
It gets hard but it won't take away my love

[Puck]  
I'm here without you, baby

[Puck and Quinn]  
But you're still on my lonely mind  
I think about you, baby  
And I dream about you all the time  
I'm here without you, baby  
But you're still with me in my dreams  
And tonight there's only you and me

[Puck]  
Oh, oh…

As soon as Puck and Quinn finished singing, they looked at one another, feeling the urge to kiss one another. After a moment of contemplating, Puck looked down and fiddled with the guitar. He didn't want Quinn to see him looking so unsure, especially after he was rejected once by her. Quinn noticed Puck's face expression and used her hand to lift up his head. She kept her hand on his cheek, giving him a warm smile.

"Are you okay, Noah?" If anyone else called Puck by his first name, he would have thrown them in a locker or the dumpster out back, but this was Quinn that they were talking about. Puck knew that he was in love with Quinn and Quinn could tell just by staring at his face.

"I'm fine…I mean…" Puck started to say but then looked back down at the guitar. "I guess that I'm just upset that you're leaving to Yale and I'm stuck here."

"You're not stuck here." Quinn shook her head, noticing that Puck really looked lost. "You're going to be fine, and do you know why? Because you're smart. People may not believe it but behind that Mohawk is a sweet guy with a brain. You were smart enough to graduate High School."

"Yeah, with _your_ help." Puck reminded her. "I'm not smart enough to do this without you. I realized that this week…that I need your help. I need _you_." Quinn felt touched by Puck's words and placed her forehead on his.

"Well don't worry. I'm going to help you…no matter what." Quinn softly spoke.

"How sure are you that you can make that promise?" Puck shook his head, still looking into Quinn's eyes. Quinn's smile widened, gazing at Puck.

"I'm this sure." Quinn whispered, then placed her lips to Puck's, engulfing him in a kiss. For a moment, Puck wasn't sure what was happening, but when he realized that Quinn was kissing him, he closed his eyes and started responding back. Quinn wasn't sure how this with Puck was going to work with her going to Yale in a couple of days, but she didn't have to worry about that right now. She was in the now, and right now, now was where she wanted to be.

* * *

In the choir room, Mike was busy perfecting the New Directions dance moves for the final number of their performance, letting them know what they were doing wrong. Most of them took the critiquing well—except for Blaine. Blaine wasn't sure what he was doing wrong. He figured he was dancing just as well as Jake and Brittany, but according to Mike that wasn't the case. Regionals were tomorrow and Blaine was more than frustrated with himself. How was he going to get the moves right?

"All right, let's take five everyone." Mike said, staring over at Blaine as he spoke. Everyone went to get their water bottles but Blaine simply wasn't into taking a break. He wanted to make sure that his moves were spot on. "All right, Blaine…maybe you should take a break." Mike suggested.

"No, I have to get this right." Blaine sounded determined. Mike and Blaine didn't know that Kurt was busy watching them as he tailored one of the outfits for tomorrow.

"Blaine, it's right, left, right then slide." Kurt spoke up from his table. Blaine and Mike turned to Kurt who went back to his work.

"What?" Blaine shook his head, not understanding what Kurt was referring to.

"The dance moves? You're doing left, right, left then slide but when you slide, you end up bumping into Marley. It's right, left, right and then you slide. That way you don't bump into anyone." Kurt got up from the table, walking over to Blaine and Mike. "Trust me; dance moves are crucial when it comes to Regionals. They judge on how tight a group's moves are and although New Directions has only been going at it for a day, they seem to be getting it right. You need to get your head in the game."

"You're not going to sing _High School Musical_ now, are you?" Blaine shook his head, a smirk appearing on his face.

"No, I'm not Chad Danforth and you're not Troy Bolton." Kurt quipped back, reciprocating the smirk. "Come on, you can do this. I know you can."

"Would you mind helping me? I mean I know you're busy with the designs but…" Blaine started but Kurt put his hand up, a smile appearing on his face.

"Say no more." Kurt chuckled, then led Blaine near his station so that he could teach him. "I'll be glad to help you."

"Thanks, Kurt." Blaine stuffed his hands into his pockets, staring at his ex.

"No problem. Now, let's get started." Kurt motioned for Blaine to take his hands out of his pockets. "All right, let's do this." For the next ten minutes, Kurt was helping Blaine perfect his dance moves—until a piece of paper fell out of his pocket. Kurt looked at the paper and went to pick it up, interested in what it said. "What's this?" Kurt read the paper then turned to Blaine, in apparent shock. It was a paper from NYADA…he had an audition coming up. "You applied to NYADA?"

"Well…yeah." Blaine nodded his head, trying to figure out what he was going to do. "I was planning on telling you…and I spoke to Finn and Rachel about it. They said that going there was a fun experience. I'm not into being on Broadway but I think I would fit in there. It's New York…it's me. This isn't awkward, is it?"

"Of course not." Kurt truthfully told him. "As a matter of fact, I'm glad that you're applying to NYADA. If anyone should get in, it should be you."

"But what about you? I mean, I remember you were applying to NYADA…and now you're an intern at Vogue." Blaine said. "Did you give up on your dream?"

"I didn't give up on my dream." Kurt shook his head. "I'm happy doing what I'm doing. I mean, it's fun."

"It's fun…but it's not what you were expecting when you were in New York." Blaine spoke as if he was finishing Kurt's thought. The scary thing about it was that Blaine was right.

"It's not what I expected, you're right." Kurt said. "But what am I supposed to do?"

"Why don't you re-apply to NYADA? I mean if Finn out of all people was able to get in then you have to be a shoe-in. We could do this together." Blaine suggested. Kurt looked into Blaine's eyes, seeing that Blaine was serious.

"You would be willing to help me get into NYADA?" Kurt asked.

"I would." Blaine quickly answered. "You're my best friend Kurt…and if there was anything I could do to help make your dreams come true, it would be to have you get on that stage and audition for NYADA once again…but this time no props."

"Aw, but the props made the performance." Kurt sounded disappointed.

"Maybe it was the _props_ that kept you out of NYADA the first time. You have to rely on your voice. That's what I plan on doing." Kurt raised an eyebrow smirking over to Blaine as he spoke.

"So if we're talking about props then you need to not wear the bow ties. It throws everyone off." Kurt joked.

"It does not!" Blaine couldn't help but laugh. "Look, I'm going to help you get into NYADA…no matter what. We're in this together. We're going to make sure that you get an audition and then we're going to audition together. My audition is in late May so that gives us at least a month to get them to see your application." Kurt felt touched that Blaine was willing to help him do whatever it took to make sure they both got into NYADA. Kurt's heart filled with joy just staring over at Blaine.

"Then I guess we're going to have to send in my application." Kurt said as Blaine patted Kurt's shoulder. They then remembered the task at hand. "Right, let's teach you those dance moves. You have to be the best one on the stage tomorrow."

"Is there a reason why?' Blaine chuckled at Kurt's statement.

"Because I don't want to take my eyes off you when you're performing. Now let's go." Kurt motioned for Blaine to get back to work as Blaine shook his head while laughing. Kurt wouldn't admit it but he was falling back in love with Blaine…he was just a little skeptical on whether to let his heart take over instead of his brain.

* * *

Santana stood behind after the kids were finished with practicing for Regionals, thinking about how everything could change for them tomorrow. Either they could be on their way to Nationals or the season would be over, forcing them to have Glee Club for fun instead of preparing for something. Sure, she would listen when Rachel would say that Glee Club wasn't about the winning but about the music, but Santana liked to win. Santana noticed that Brittany was putting everything back in her backpack, closing it and started to head out the door—when she observed Santana standing right before her.

"Santana, I have to go to my next class." Brittany said.

"I know you do, but I just want to talk to you." Santana motioned towards the two chairs as Brittany sat in one of them. She wasn't sure if she wanted to speak to Santana right now, especially after finding out that Santana hadn't quit her job yet. "Look Brittany, I know you're not happy with me right now and you have every right to be."

"Because you know that this job could hurt you and you're still doing it anyway?" Brittany kept her upset composure, trying to look away from Santana.

"I get a lot of money." Santana argued.

"So we're justifying things with money now?" Brittany asked. "I'm sorry but when you're in an alley with tattered clothes, I don't think money is going to comfort you and tell you everything's going to be okay? Money can buy you a lot of things, but it can't buy you happiness."

"Brittany, why are you so upset about it?" Santana didn't see what was channeling Brittany's anger.

"Because you're much better than that Santana." Brittany responded. "When you were here last year, I always thought you were going to be the president of the United States or a singer on the radio or an actress in the movie _21 Jump Street_ because you would have looked awesome next to Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. The fact of the matter is, you're settling Santana and you're settling for the lowest of the low. I want you to be able to go to college, get a degree, and then get a job that pays a lot of money the right way. I don't want to see you get hurt because of Brody." Santana continued to stare at Brittany, wondering if she should say something.

"Well, I'm not going to get hurt." Santana got up from her chair, heading towards the entrance of the doorway. "And come Monday, I'll be back at work doing what I do best." Santana headed out of the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Brittany in the dust.

* * *

After school finished, the alumni and Mr. Schuester were in the auditorium, wondering why the New Directions had summoned them. As they stared over at the New Directions on the stage, that was when the alumni knew that New Directions had a performance for them.

"So as you all know, tomorrow is Regionals and of course we wanted to thank you for coming to help us." Blaine smiled.

"We also wanted to thank you for coming to prevent Blaine from choosing Katy Perry for us to sing. I don't want to wear a bra that shoots out whipped cream." Brittany added.

"Yeah, about that…I'm really sorry about the way I acted." Blaine turned to his teammates. "I suppose I just have to be open to the possibilities of different kinds of music. Which is why we decided to do a number to show how psyched up we are about performing at Regionals. If it wasn't for you guys, then we'd probably be struggling and we wouldn't have Finn showing me about the Jonas Brothers…so I must thank you."

"You're welcome." Finn said, smiling at Blaine.

"So guess what, Brittany?" Blaine turned towards Brittany giving her a knowing glance.

"What?" Brittany looked back Blaine.

"I think I'm 'Ready to Go'. HIT IT!" Blaine turned to the band. They suddenly started playing the song, as New Directions (and later the alumni during the bridge of the song) started jumping around the stage in excitement for Regionals, showing that they were ready to take on their competition and ready to win.

[New Directions]:  
Oh, uhoohhhhh!  
Oh, uhoohhhhh!  
Oh, uhoohhhhh!  
Oh, uhoohhhhh!

[Blaine]:  
You got these little things  
That you've been running from  
You either love it or guess you don't  
You're such a pretty thing  
To be running from anyone with a vision  
With nowhere to go

[Brittany]:  
So tell me right now  
You think you're ready for it  
I wanna know  
Why you got me going  
So let's go  
We'll take it out of here  
I think I'm ready to leap, I'm ready to live

[Blaine and Brittany]  
I'm ready to go (New Directions: Get me out my mind, get me out my mind)  
I'm ready to go (New Directions: Uh, uhoohhhhh!, Uh, uhoohhhhh!)

[Brittany]  
You got these little things  
You wanted something from them  
You'll either get it or guess you don't  
What does it really mean to get nothing from anyone  
There's a million ways it could go

[Blaine]  
So tell me right now  
You think you're ready for it  
I wanna know  
Why you got me going  
So let's go  
We'll take it out of here  
I think I'm ready to leave  
I'm ready to live

[Blaine and Brittany]  
I'm ready to go (New Directions: Get me out my mind, get me out my mind)  
I'm ready to go (New Directions: Uh, uhoohhhh!, Uh, uhoohhhh!)

[Blaine, Mike, Puck, Jake, Ryder, Finn and Artie]:  
I think I'm ready I think  
I know I'm ready I know  
I think I'm ready I think  
I know I'm ready I know  
I think I'm ready I think  
I know I'm ready I know  
I think I'm ready I think  
I know I'm ready, I'm

[Brittany, Marley, Kitty, Rachel, Quinn, Kurt and Santana]  
I'm ready to go (Marley and Jake with New Directions: Get me out my mind, get me out my mind)

[Brittany and Blaine]  
I'm ready to go (Marley and Jake with New Directions: Uh, uhoohhhhh!, Uh, uhoohhhhh!)  
I'm ready to go (Mike, Puck and Finn: I think I'm ready I think, I know I'm ready I know, I think I'm ready I think, I know I'm ready I know)  
I'm ready to go (Marley with New Directions: Get me out my mind, get me out my mind)  
I'm ready to go (Marley with Finn, Mike, Puck, Jake, Ryder, Artie, Rachel, Quinn, Kurt and Santana with New Directions: Uh, uhooohhhh!, Uh, uhoohhhhhhh!)

Everyone on the stage burst out into a gigantic cheer, hugging one another, as they got ready for Regionals. There was a lot at stake here, but everyone felt that they were ready for this. As they continued celebrating, Finn's phone began to ring. Finn turned to it, seeing that it was an unfamiliar number as everyone started to hush down.

"Hello?" Finn asked as soon as he picked up. He turned to Rachel and motioned for her to come towards him. "Yeah, she's right here." Finn handed his phone to Rachel as she became confused. "It's the directors for _Funny Girl_." Finn whispered. Rachel's eyes widened as she put the phone to her ear and started walking away.

"Hello? Yes…yes. All right…I understand…thank you so much for calling." Rachel spoke, and then hung up the phone. She turned over to Finn with a disappointed look on her face. Finn knew that Rachel didn't get the role just by her face expression. Finn walked over to Rachel, engulfing her in a sympathetic hug.

"I'm so sorry Rachel." Finn whispered into her ear. Finn then felt Rachel's face pull into a smile, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"So you're sorry I got the part?" Rachel whispered. Finn pulled his face away to stare intently into Rachel's eyes. Noticing her smiling face, his face began to turn into a smile.

"You…you got the part?" Finn said barely aloud. "YOU GOT THE PART!" Finn yelled, hugging Rachel tightly with pride. Everyone looked over to Finn and Rachel, unsure with what was going on.

"What's up with Finn?" Puck pointed towards his best friend. Finn turned around pulling Rachel along with him.

"Rachel got the part! She's Fanny on Broadway!" Finn sounded excited for his fiancée.

"She what?! No way! Really?!" Everyone started clamoring while staring at Rachel. After Rachel nodded her head, they quickly engulfed her into a big group hug, congratulating her.

"I'm so proud of you, Rachel." Finn gave a big grin towards her, running a hand through her hair. "You are going to be a big star, I know you are. You're fantastic, incredible and you're going to be on Broadway!" Rachel leaned in and gave Finn a passionate kiss, forgetting everything that happened to her during the past couple of days. Life was good in Lima right now. She was getting married to Finn, she got the part in Funny Girl and she was leading the New Directions to another Regionals title so they could qualify for Nationals. There was nothing Hunter could do to dampen Rachel's mood while she was home. All was good for Rachel Berry—for now.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Here Without You by 3 Doors Down (Sung by Noah "Puck" Puckerman and Quinn Fabray), Ready To Go by Panic! at the Disco (Sung by Blaine Anderson, Brittany Pierce, Mike Chang, Noah "Puck" Puckerman, Jake Puckerman, Ryder Lynn, Finn Hudson, Artie Abrams, Marley Rose, Kitty Wilde, Rachel Berry, Quinn Fabray, Kurt Hummel & Santana Lopez with New Directions)_


	41. REGIONALS

_**A/N: ****So here's what you missed on Glee. The New Directions are practicing for Regionals since that's coming up. Quinn and Puck got together after Puck realized that he wanted to be with her, although Quinn's not entirely sure how this is going to work. Kurt helps Blaine with his dance moves for Regionals and Blaine and Kurt have a heart to heart moment. Brittany is trying to convince Santana that her job is low but Santana isn't listening. Rachel got the role of Fanny on Broadway and it seems that everything is looking great-for now. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Note: Here we are, at Regionals. This chapter had been the hardest chapter of this story to write so far because I was aiming for the message to be powerful. My inspiration for this chapter was the Glee episode 'Shooting Star', which in my opinion was one of the best Glee episodes this season. Anyway, here's Regionals and enjoy the chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER CONTAINS GUN VIOLENCE. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED**

* * *

This was it: Regionals. It was the moment that New Directions was waiting for. They were waiting for their moment to shine, their moment in the sun. Their moment to take all that they learned that week and put it to good use. New Directions were nervous for Regionals, but if there was anyone that was more nervous it would of have to have been the alumni. New Directions lost Regionals _once_ in their career since the club was re-established and that was the first year it was reinstated. Since then, New Directions made it to Nationals the next two years. They only hoped the current team could keep it going.

* * *

Regionals was on Rachel's mind as she lay in bed with Finn that morning, staring up at the celling, her mind wandering. A lot had happened in the last couple of hours for Rachel. She found out she was the lead in _Funny Girl_ and she had to lead New Directions to a Regionals championship. She couldn't let them down. They all depended on her. Rachel slowly slithered out of Finn's arms, getting out of the bed and started to make her way towards the bedroom door. However, she stopped when she noticed a picture on the drawer of Finn and Rachel performing during Nationals of their senior year. Rachel picked up the framed photo, finding herself staring at it with interest. As Rachel continued to stare at the photo, she didn't notice a pair of arms, snaking around her waist. Rachel let out a grin after a moment, realizing that it was Finn. Finn pressed his chin on the top of Rachel's head, staring down at the picture.

"Still thinking about Nationals?" Finn smirked. Rachel looked up at her fiancé, pressing a kiss on his lips before putting the picture back down.

"The last time that we were preparing for a competition, it was the current New Direction's Sectionals." Rachel softly said, still staring at the picture. "I just want them to experience Nationals like we did Finn."

"And they will. Don't worry about it." Finn pressed a kiss on the top of Rachel's head. "It's going to be fine. They have a great set-list, they have great teachers and they have the drive to win. They'll kick some serious butt in Regionals so they'll make it to Nationals. We tried our best to prepare them, okay? We have to have faith in them." Rachel stared into Finn's eyes, giving him a wide grin as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"All right then." Rachel nodded her head. Finn leaned in to press a kiss on Rachel's lips, but Rachel moved her face at the last moment. "I have to brush my teeth."

"But you just kissed me five seconds ago." Finn chuckled while Rachel got out of his grasp.

"I know, but that was out of the norm for me." Rachel smiled, then headed into the bathroom while Finn stuffed his hands in his pockets. Finn found himself cracking a smile at his fiancée, loving her competitiveness and determination. He couldn't wait to see that every single day for the rest of his life.

* * *

"Have you seen my headband?!" Marley yelled in the choir room, looking through the baskets.

"I love that song." Brittany said, gaining looks from Kitty and Marley.

"Never mind, don't ask." Tina quickly told them, then helped the two girls find their headbands. At the end, Kurt and Quinn decided to have New Directions wear black tuxedo outfits along with dress shoes (much to Kurt's chagrin). Kurt decided to make the New Directions girls wear headbands and even came with designs to bedazzle them. While the girls loved the headbands, they had trouble finding the basket where Kurt put them. As they ran around the room, the alumni entered the room to get the kids into a show circle. They noticed the teens looking frazzled and turned to Kurt with inquisitive looks.

"I have the headbands in this box." Kurt pointed. The girls made their way towards Kurt, taking the headbands one by one, as Finn stared at them.

"All right, here's the plan. We're going to go out there, we're going to sing our hearts out…and we're going to win this for McKinley. You guys control the ball in your court…so you need to make the right plays. Does that sound good?" Finn eyed them. New Directions gave Finn a confident grin, then put their hands in for the show circle. The lights began to flicker and that was when Finn knew—it was time. Mr. Schuester entered the room along with the other alumni members, giving his team a confident look.

"Let's go out there and win!" Mr. Schuester clapped. New Directions gave one another confident looks, then headed out to where the auditorium was. New Directions paced backstage as their competition went ahead of them. The team in front of them 'The Starlight Knights', seemed to have been from a school that came from—the medieval times. They were dressed in what looked like armor, which couldn't have been comfortable.

"I think if we dressed like them, we'd chafe." Artie whispered over to Finn. Finn quickly nodded his head in agreement, still staring over at the choir team ahead of them.

"How do they perform in that?" Kitty muttered.

"Looks highly uncomfortable." Marley shook her head.

"Well they have an advantage." Jake concluded.

"And why do you say that?" Santana shook her head, staring over at Jake.

"Because they sing like gods and they're wearing armor. That's impressive." Jake pointed over towards the Starlight Knights.

"If you want, I could give the judges $1,000 each to make sure we win." Sugar suggested.

"NO!" Everyone yelled back at her, causing Sugar to slump quietly in her seat.

"If we're going to win, then we're going to win the right way. With our talent." Marley spoke while staring out at her competition. As soon as the Starlight Knights finished their performance, they headed backstage, giving New Directions a vast array of smug looks before moving along.

"We're dead, we're dead. We're so totally dead." Ryder started hyperventilating.

"Dude! Get a hold of yourself!" Jake grabbed Ryder and started shaking him uncontrollably. "We're going to win this because we're not going to let the Starlight douchebags get in our way. Got that?'

"Although I don't condone the language, Jake I have to agree. We're not going to let Starlight Knights get in our way. We are New Directions and we will win." Mr. Schuester said, staring at his team. "So let's go out there!"

"_Ladies and gentlemen, welcome…the New Directions!_" That was it. That was their cue. It was time for them to get on the stage and show the world what the alumni had trained them to do. As the alumni headed towards their seats, Rachel tugged at Finn's arm, giving him a cheeky grin.

"Save me a seat. I have to go and use the restroom." Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's cheek, as he smiled.

"Of course." Finn nodded his head, then held onto her hand with a playful smirk. "Just don't take too long. You know I'll miss you." Rachel giggled then headed towards the door of the auditorium to head to the rest room. Finn turned on his heels and went to sit with the alumni, excited to hear what New Directions had in store for everyone. Finn sat down next to Puck, leaving one of the seats for Rachel as the two friends couldn't help but keep their eyes on the Starlight Knights, sitting in their seats with armor. Finn and Puck cringed, thinking how anyone could be comfortable in that. Marley and Jake eyed one another as the first song of the set-list began to play.

[Marley]  
I'm at a payphone  
Trying to call home  
All of my change I spent on you  
Where have the times gone  
Baby it's all wrong  
Where are the plans we made for two

[Jake]  
I know it's hard to remember  
The people we used to be  
I know it's harder to picture  
That you're not here next to me  
You say it's too late to make it  
But is it too late to try  
And in our time that you wasted  
All of our bridges burned down

[Jake with Marley]  
I've wasted my nights  
You turned out the lights  
Now I'm paralyzed  
Still stuck in that time  
When we called it love  
But even the sun  
Sets in paradise

[Marley and Jake]  
I'm at a payphone  
Trying to call home  
All of my change I spent on you  
Where have the times gone  
Baby it's all wrong  
Where are the plans we made for two

If happy ever after did exist  
I would still be holding you like this  
And all those fairytales are full of it  
One more stupid love song I'll be sick

[Jake]  
Now I'm at a payphone

[Marley]  
Yeah, yeah now baby don't hang up  
So I can tell you what you need to know  
Baby I'm begging you just please don't go

[Marley and Jake]  
So I can tell you what you need to know

[Jake and Marley]  
I'm at a payphone  
Trying to call home  
All of my change I spent on you  
Where have the times gone  
Baby it's all wrong  
Where are the plans we made for two

If happy ever after did exist  
I would still be holding you like this  
And all those fairytales are full of it  
One more stupid love song I'll be sick

[Marley]  
Now I'm at a payphone

As soon as Marley and Jake finished their first number, the audience stood up from their seat, while the alumni clapped their hands with pride. Puck and Finn gave each other a knowing look that New Directions had it in the bag.

"Man, Rachel sure knows how to work her magic." Puck clapped his hands, staring at his younger brother. Finn nodded his head, then turned to the seat next to him. Rachel said she was going to the bathroom, so where was she?

"Shouldn't have Rachel been back by now?" Finn questioned.

"Rachel's a girl Finn." Quinn smirked. "Us girls need more time in the bathroom."

"Yeah, I guess." Finn relented, however he still wasn't sure. Something felt…off. Finn didn't have much time to contemplate since New Directions had their second number coming up. It was a group boys number, which still stuck true to the 'group' theme. Artie, Blaine, Ryder, Jake, Sam and Joe stood in front of the audience as the girls went backstage, with the song beginning. Finn leaned back in his chair but continued to stare at the empty seat. Where was Rachel?

[Artie]  
Well I saw fireworks from the freeway  
And behind closed eyes I can't make them go away  
Cause you were born on the fourth of July, freedom ring  
Well something on the surface it stinks  
I said something on the surface  
Well it kind of makes me nervous  
Who said that you deserve this  
And what kind of god would have serve this  
We will cure this dirty old disease  
Well if you got the poison I got the remedy

[Ryder]  
The remedy is the experience  
This is a dangerous liaison  
I say the comedy is that it's serious  
This is a strange enough new play on words  
I say the tragedy is how you're going to spend  
The rest of your nights with the light on  
So shine a light on all of your friends  
When it all amounts to nothing in the end

[Blaine with Artie, Ryder, Jake, Sam and Joe]  
I, I won't worry my life away  
Hey, oh, oh  
I, I won't worry my life away  
Hey, oh, oh

[Jake]  
When I fall in love, I take my time  
There's no need to hurry when I'm making up my mind

[Artie]  
You can turn off the sun, but I'm still gonna shine  
And I'll tell you why

[Joe]  
Because the remedy is the experience  
It's a dangerous liaison  
I say that the comedy is serious  
This is a strange enough new play on words  
I say the tragedy is how you're going spend  
The rest of your life with the light on  
So shine a light on your friends  
Cause it all amounts to nothing in the end

[Blaine with Ryder, Joe, Artie, Sam and Jake]  
I, I won't worry my life away  
Hey, oh, oh  
I, I won't worry my life away (Artie: I won't worry my life)  
Hey, oh, oh  
I, I won't worry my life away (Artie: I won't worry my life away)  
Hey, oh, oh  
I, I won't worry my life away (Artie: I won't, I won't, I won't)  
Hey, oh, oh

[All]  
I, I won't worry my life away  
Hey

At the end of the second New Directions number, Finn was becoming more than concerned. He didn't think it would take Rachel this long to go use the bathroom—and the other New Directions members could see the worry and fear in Finn's face. Mr. Schuester patted Finn's back assumingly, as if it was a way of promising Finn that Rachel would be back soon. Something had to have been wrong. New Direction's final number was up and Rachel still wasn't here. Finn decided he was going to go and find her. He had to.

"I'll be right back." Finn assured his friends before getting up from his seat. Unfortunately, Finn didn't get very far.

_BAM, BAM, BAM!_

Everyone turned towards the auditorium doors in shock and fear, becoming restless and afraid. Mr. Schuester had a good idea as to what that was, and so did everyone else: gunshots. Everyone in the auditorium started crouching down and looking for cover while Mr. Schuester convinced everyone to stay quiet. One of the teachers by the lights turned them off while everyone crowded next to one another

"What the hell was that?" Puck questioned, but was quickly silenced by Mr. Schuster.

"Were those…" Quinn frightfully asked. Mr. Schuester silenced them again, while Puck placed a protective arm around Quinn.

"Who do you think is out there?" Mike whispered towards Finn and Puck. They looked at one another, then back towards the door, feeling their hearts beat faster than it ever had before. Santana noticed Finn's petrified face, then signaled Mr. Schuester to take care of Finn.

"Finn, are you all right?" Mr. Schuester quickly went over to Finn, leaning down next to him.

"Rachel is still out there and she's not picking up the phone." Finn started stammering.

"I thought Hunter broke her phone." Puck whispered.

"I got her a new one." Finn quickly answered, then stared back at the phone. "She always picks up when I call, something's wrong! What if Rachel was the one that was hurt out there?!" Finn got up from his chair and started to head towards the door, but was pulled back by Mike, Puck and Mr. Schuester.

"Finn, calm down. They're going to find her." Mr. Schuester continued to hold Finn back but Finn continued to squirm in order to get out of Mr. Schuester's reach.

"I HAVE TO FIND HER!" Finn turned around and yelled towards Mr. Schuester, his anger becoming evident.

"Finn, shut up! They're going to find us in here!" Mercedes screeched.

"I don't care! Let them find me! Rachel is out there and I have to find her! NOW!" Finn exclaimed.

"Dude, you're putting everyone in danger right now. So you'd rather that you'd find Rachel but the rest of us die?!" Puck got up from his position and stared over at Finn.

"I don't want that…" Finn began to feel helpless as his face twisted in confusion.

"Then you need to chill man. They're going to find Rachel, but right now we need to stay quiet…and we can't freak out because then everyone else is going to freak out." Puck walked over to Finn, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We don't know what's out there…or how they got in here."

"But I need Rachel now Puck. She's probably scared out of her mind." Finn began to break down and started sobbing uncontrollably. "She can't die, Puck. She can't…" Puck pulled Finn into a hug as Finn continued to cry, still sobbing about Rachel.

"I know dude, I know. Listen, she's probably hiding out somewhere. She's smart." Puck softly said as Finn continued crying, Finn didn't realize it, but the other New Direction members along with the alumni had tears in their eyes. They were all worried about Rachel, but they had to protect everyone else.

"Wait a minute…" Blaine stood up from his position and walked over to the alumni. "Where's Kurt?!" Santana then noticed on the stage that all of New Directions were crowded together…except for Brittany.

"And where the hell is Brittany?!' Santana began to worry.

"Wait, so Kurt, Brittany and Rachel are missing? Where did they go?!" Mr. Schuester felt his heart rate escalating.

"Kurt left during the first number to fix my headband." Tina feebly said. "The rhinestones fell off and I demanded him to fix them."

"And once Brittany heard the shots she ran out the side door in fear. She looked really scared." Jake added, keeping his grip on Marley.

"What was Brittany thinking?!" Santana felt her voice crack as she spoke. "Why did she run away?"

'Because once you hear something like that you get scared!" Blaine sat next to Santana, tears appearing on his face. "Where do you think they went?"

"They probably went to hide." Mr. Schuester softly said, assuring them. "Try texting them, if you call them and the shooter is near them then their phone could go off and they'll know where Kurt and Brittany are hiding."

"Oh god…" Finn choked out then started to sob again. Mr. Schuester turned his attention towards Finn, then started rubbing Finn's back soothingly. Santana and Blaine quickly did as Mr. Schuester suggested, typing text's to Brittany and Kurt. As they typed the texts, they felt their eyes water, worrying about their friends.

"What if…" Mike softly spoke as he looked to Mr. Schuester.

"Kurt, Brittany and Rachel are fine. Don't worry." Mr. Schuester put his hand up to prevent Mike from finishing the sentence. If Mike had finished his sentence, there was a good chance that Finn would go ballistic. He was already emotional as it was.

"I just hope nothing happens to Brittany." Santana started sobbing while rubbing her temples. "Brittany would never hurt a fly. But whoever is out there will take advantage of her…" Santana quickly stopped talking as the door was kicked open, causing everyone in the auditorium to let out a scream.

"SHUT UP!" The voice screamed. Finn, Mike and Puck looked at one another, knowing who the voice was. It…it was Hunter.

"Hunter?" Finn turned his attention towards Hunter, seeing that his worst fears were coming alive. Hunter was standing in front of Finn, but this time he was more powerful…he had a gun. Finn didn't process that the gun was pointed right at him, mostly because he was more worried about Rachel's wellbeing. "Where's Rachel? What did you do to her?!"

"Don't worry chunky, I didn't hurt Rachel. I didn't come here for revenge upon her…I came here for revenge upon you and your smart aleck friends." Puck and Mike turned to one another then back at Hunter. He knew that Hunter was talking about them since they slushed him earlier. "Get up." Hunter growled, staring over at Finn, Puck and Mike. Mike and Puck quickly obliged but Finn stood on his knees, staring at Hunter with water in his eyes.

"Puck! What are you doing?!" Quinn grabbed Puck's hand then tried to pull him down.

"No, if this punk wants a fight…then a fight is what he's going to get." Puck continued to look at Hunter.

"Noah, I lost you once. I don't want to lose you again." Quinn shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. Puck looked down to her, cupping her face with his hands.

"I'm going to be okay Quinn, I promise." Puck pressed his lips to Quinn's, then gave her a pleading look. "I'll be okay." Everyone continued to stare at Puck, Mike and Finn as Puck turned back around towards Hunter. "So what do you want?"

"Follow me." Hunter motioned with the gun in his hand. Mike, Finn and Puck were a little skeptical at first but Hunter's gun ended their skepticism as they got up and quickly followed Hunter. Finn stopped for a moment as Mr. Schuester stared at him with an almost helpless expression.

"Take care of Rachel for me…" Finn tearfully said before being forced to move along. Mr. Schuester didn't know what to do. He was petrified that it could have been the last time he had seen Finn…alive.

* * *

Outside of the auditorium, Hunter began to lead Puck, Finn and Mike to who knew where…until they all spotted a familiar face blocking them. Finn had to try to do a doublet take as he realized the person that was there…was Rachel. Rachel had her arm crossed and continued staring at Hunter, looking as if he was just another person in the hallway.

"Rachel, get out of here." Finn hissed. Rachel ignored Finn's comment and continued staring over at Hunter.

"Where's Kurt and Brittany?" Rachel angrily spoke while still staring at Hunter. Hunter held the gun in his hand tighter than usual, pointing it out towards Rachel. Finn, Puck and Mike were expecting Rachel to cower and give in to Hunter…but Rachel simply stood there with her arms crossed. "You think I'm scared of that? Please. I've seen worse."

"Move out of the way or I will shoot you." Hunter's face was cold, but Rachel gave him an expression that said she didn't care.

"So what? You've done worse to me Hunter. You've slapped me across the face and you raped me. You're insecure about yourself, which is why you're taking it out on me." Rachel growled under her breath, walking over to Hunter.

"Rachel…get back or I will pull the trigger." Hunter smirked.

"You can't…." Rachel simply stated, crossing her arms. "You're out of ammo." Mike, Puck and Finn's eyes widened as they stared over at Hunter.

"You're lying." Hunter shook his head.

"Actually I'm not because when I was younger my fathers and I went hunting…and the ranger that taught us how to use the guns let us know how we were sure the guns were unloaded. There's nothing in the chamber and I know this because you used the only three bullets you had scaring off everyone else. If you really wanted Finn, Mike and Puck dead you would have shot them by now." Rachel shoved Hunter as the gun came out of his hand. Rachel continued to walk forward, staring at Hunter while Finn, Mike and Puck grabbed him. "You're a pathetic excuse of a man, Hunter. Now, I'm going to ask one time…where is Kurt and Brittany, and if you don't tell me then I will have Puck, Mike and Finn kick your ass. Now, tell me, where are my friends?!" Finn, Puck and Mike were impressed with how Rachel had stood up to Hunter. She never cursed at anyone...ever. After a moment, Hunter simply chuckled which infuriated Rachel. Rachel used her fist and punched Hunter in his face, causing Hunter to let out a groan from the pain.

"Tell her what she wants to know or I will do worse than what Rachel just did to you." Finn growled. Hunter looked to Rachel then nodded towards the choir room. Rachel walked towards the choir room and unlocked the door, causing Brittany and Kurt to tearfully come out of the room and engulf Rachel in a hug.

"It's okay…it's okay." Rachel soothed them.

"Is Santana okay?" Brittany cried, staring over at Rachel.

"How about Blaine, is he all right?" Kurt sobbed.

"Santana and Blaine are fine, don't worry." Finn assured them, keeping his grip on Hunter. "They were actually worried about you."

"How did you two get out of the auditorium?" Rachel shook her head, staring at Kurt and Brittany.

"I was in the choir room fixing Tina's headband. She wasn't needed until the last number so I thought I could put the sequins in while the boys performed…" Kurt started to go off on the tangent and told his story.

* * *

"_Kurt!" Tina's voice rang throughout backstage. Kurt turned his head to see Tina walking over while huffing as she threw the headband towards him. "Your headbands are cheap!"_

"_What happened?" Kurt stood up from his position and walked over to Tina._

"_The sequins came off my headband!" Tina screeched. "This could possibly be my last competition and I am not going to go out there and look like Raggedy Anne with missing sequins!" _

"_All right Naomi Campbell, I'll fix your sequins. Don't throw your phone at me." Kurt sarcastically said, taking the headband from Tina. After observing the headband, he nodded his head, walking past her. "I have some extra sequins in the choir room. This should be done before the final New Directions number. I'll be back soon." Kurt headed out the auditorium door and started heading into the choir room to get the supplies needed in order to fix Tina's headband. Kurt entered the choir room and dug out the materials he needed in order to fix Tina the diva's headband. As Kurt began to get to work, he felt that something was off…terribly off. For one thing, someone was walking slowly down the hallway. Kurt figured that everyone that was in the school would have been in the auditorium watching Regionals. Kurt stopped working for a moment, listening intently. A moment later…_

_BAM, BAM, BAM!_

_Kurt found himself running to the piano and ducking behind it, trying to see who was the one that had fired the shots. Kurt's breathing became shallow as he noticed a figure walk by the choir room, heading to the auditorium. Kurt was able to get a good look of the person—Hunter. Figuring that Hunter was heading to the auditorium to hurt Rachel, he quickly got out of his position, walking out of the choir room, realizing that he was risking his life for his best friend._

"_Hunter!" Kurt yelled. Hunter turned around, his face showing no remorse whatsoever. Hunter walked towards Kurt, raising the gun towards him. Kurt took a step back, realizing that Hunter wasn't giving in. Hunter grabbed Kurt by the scruff of his shirt and threw him back into the choir room, with Kurt hitting the ground. Kurt gazed up at Hunter, seeing the demented being close the door, heading towards the auditorium to extract his revenge._

* * *

"No wonder you weren't sitting with us." Puck spoke up, staring at Kurt.

"Brittany, why did you run out of the auditorium like that?" Finn wondered, staring over at her.

"Because I was scared." Brittany admitted, her eyes filling with tears as Rachel soothingly rubbed her back. "I never heard something like that in real life and I didn't know what to do."

"Heard that you monster? You scared Brittany." Finn ferociously grabbed Hunter by the collar, noticing the S.W.A.T team coming towards them. The S.W.A.T team immediately recognized Hunter, motioning Finn, Mike and Puck to bring him towards them. Puck, Finn and Mike happily obliged, throwing Hunter over to them as the S.W.A.T team got Hunter into custody. Finn turned to Rachel, seeing that she was just staring at him, showing no emotion. As Hunter was taken away, the S.W.A.T team started heading to the auditorium, letting them know that everything was all right.

"ALL CLEAR!" The S.W.A.T team yelled towards the auditorium, words that caused Brittany to collapse into Rachel's arms and start sobbing out of relief. Rachel held her tightly, then motioned Kurt, Mike, Finn and Puck who were on the verge of tears to come towards her. As one, they all walked over to Rachel, embracing her with a hug as they all cried together. After a moment of crying, they remembered that everyone was still back in the auditorium. Rachel looked to Kurt and Brittany, letting out a slight smile.

"Are you ready to go and see Blaine and Santana?" Kurt and Brittany quickly nodded their heads and made their way to the auditorium. As soon as they opened the door to the auditorium, Blaine and Santana looked up towards them with tears falling down their cheeks.

"Kurt!"

"Brittany!"

Santana and Blaine got up from their seats and ran over to their friends, engulfing them in a gigantic hug, all of them crying at the same time. Blaine looked to Kurt, putting a hand on his cheek while shaking his head.

"I thought that I was going to lose you." Blaine's voice cracked. Kurt looked to Blaine, then cried along with him.

"I thought I was going to lose you." Kurt shook his head. "You're my best friend…and I was afraid I was never going to tell you that again." Blaine and Kurt continued hugging while Santana and Brittany held one another.

"Are you okay, Brittany?" Santana soothingly said.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you and I'm sorry for telling you that I was embarrassed of you. I'm not embarrassed, I promise…" Brittany sobbed into Santana's arms, with Santana assuring her that everything was all right.

"It's all right. I'm sorry…I'm sorry." Santana held Brittany tightly, not letting her go. Quinn looked at Kurt and Brittany, then felt her heart drop.

"Kurt, where's Noah?" Quinn walked up to Kurt, fiddling with her hands and her makeup smudged from all the crying she had been doing.

"Looking for me?" A voice softly said. Quinn turned around, seeing Puck standing there, his face moist from the tears.

"Noah." Quinn ran over and engulfed Puck into a hug, then pressed a kiss to his lips. "I thought I was never going to see you again."

"I'm right here…and I'm not going anywhere. I love you, Quinn." Puck softly said. Quinn felt the waterworks coming once again, as she stared into his eyes.

"I love you too, Puck." Quinn said automatically, then kissed him once more. Mr. Schuester turned to the door way, seeing Rachel walking in the auditorium, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Rachel, thank goodness you're okay." Mr. Schuester brought Rachel in for a hug as she wrapped her arms around him, holding her former teacher tightly. "Have you seen Finn? Please tell me you saw Finn." Rachel looked towards the auditorium and noticed Finn entering the room, with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Finn…" Mr. Schuester walked over and quickly hugged Finn, not expecting Finn to just break down and sob.

"Finn?" Rachel quickly made her way to her fiancé, embracing him in a hug. Finn continued to cry in Rachel's hair, but that was the least of her worries right now. She had to figure out why Finn was so upset. "Finn, hey…look at me." Finn looked up towards Rachel, his eyes puffy from all the crying he had done that day. "Finn, what's wrong?"

"How are you so calm?!" Finn almost yelled, surprising Rachel a bit. "I almost lost you today! Hunter had a gun! He came in the school and fired three shots, yet you don't seem to care that you almost lost your life today protecting me! How…how…" Finn noticed Rachel tearing up as she started crying into her hands, Finn stopping his rant and watching his fiancée cry. Finn grabbed her tightly, as they both stood there—not caring that an entire auditorium was watching them. Rachel looked up at Finn and shook her head, placing a hand on his cheek.

"Finn, the only reason I didn't lose control was because I knew that he wouldn't have hesitated to hurt you. Sure, he hit me in the face and violated me…but he would have _killed_ you. He wouldn't have hesitated to pull the trigger on you. On me? He wouldn't have done it. He would have killed you and then have his way with me. I had to protect the both of us." Rachel continued to stare at Finn while sobbing. "And I did. I protected the both of us. And I saved Brittany and Kurt from Hunter locking them in the choir room. I knew he would have done anything to get rid of you, so I had to think fast. If I had lost it and cried…Hunter would have hurt you. That's the truth." Finn looked at Rachel, realizing that being calm was only a ruse. Inside, Rachel was scared out of her wits, especially when she saw Hunter leading Finn out of the school with a gun.

"There's something else." A police officer said from behind everyone. "She not only saved your butt, but she might as well have saved the school. There's something I want to show you guys…" The police officer led everyone out of the auditorium, over to Hunter's car. "We were conducting a search on the car and we found this." The officer opened the compartment and everyone saw a bunch of ammunition in the compartment. If Hunter had gotten Finn, Puck and Mike out of the school, there would have been a good chance that they wouldn't be standing here right now. Finn felt nauseated, realizing that Hunter was planning something extremely deadly. After a moment, Finn looked up at Mr. Schuester then let out a deep breath. Finn needed a moment. Finn squeezed out of Rachel's grasp and pushed his way through the crowd in order to be by himself.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Finn sat in one of the seats in the McKinley auditorium, staring at the stage. After a day full of mayhem, the judges graded New Directions on their performances but out of respect, decided to wait until tomorrow to reveal the results. Finn felt his stomach turn, his heart pound and his head spin as he realized what happened today. Finn continued to stare at the stage, not realizing that Rachel entered the auditorium with Puck and Mike. They noticed Finn sitting still, not saying a word, and they knew that Finn probably wanted to be alone. Were they going to leave him alone? No.

"Finn?" Puck walked down the aisle with Mike and Rachel in tow. Finn turned around to spot his friends, then looked back at the stage.

"Do you realize what that jackass had done?" Finn scoffed. "During Sectionals, he attempted to rape Rachel again. Now during Regionals, he brings a gun and almost shoots up McKinley. He needs to be put in a mental asylum."

"He does." Puck sat down in the seat next to Finn, looking at his best friend. "Look, the main thing is, no one was hurt."

"No, but someone could have been hurt. I want to know how he could have been okay with all that. He could have killed someone. He could have killed one of us." Finn eyed Puck and Mike. "I probably never would have been able to tell you guys how much you guys mean to me…or tell Rachel how much I love her. How much the Glee Club meant to me and how much I love my parents. Or probably how much of a role model figure Mr. Schue is. We were this close to never telling the ones we love how we felt about them. And I don't want to end my life not telling everyone how much they mean to me and made an impact on me." Rachel walked over to Finn and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to tell you I love you." Rachel admitted. "I mean, the last thing I remember telling you was that I had to use the bathroom. The last words you told me before that were that you'd miss me." Shivers went down Finn's spine as he realized that his final words to her before the ordeal would have had a creepy effect had it come true.

"I don't want my last words to you to be 'I'll miss you.' I want my last words to you to be 'I love you.'" Finn said softly. Rachel pressed a kiss on Finn's forehead, enjoying the fact that he was still here right now.

"There are so many things that we'd wish we could say to everyone…and I think that right now would be a great chance to do that." Puck got up on the stage and grabbed a nearby guitar. Luckily (and creepily) for Puck, the Glee band was tuning up their instruments at the same time as Puck grabbed the guitar. "Since you guys are always here, you could help me with a song." Puck walked over and whispered the song choice in their ear. After a moment the band started playing and Puck started playing the guitar. As Puck, Finn, Rachel and Mike began to sing to the music, the alumni along with the New Directions came in, joining in the song—and all of them were being watched by Mr. Schuester.

[Finn]  
Sometimes we fall down, can't get back up  
We're hiding behind skin that's too tough  
How come we don't say I love you enough  
Till it's too late, it's not too late

[Puck]  
Our hearts are hungry for food that won't come  
But we could make a feast of these crumbs  
And we're all staring down at the barrel of a gun  
So if your life flashed before you  
What would you wished you would have done

[Puck, Finn and Rachel]  
Yeah we gotta start looking at the hand  
Of the time we've been given  
If this is all we got then we gotta start thinking  
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking  
Gotta live like we're dying

[Mike, Mercedes and Quinn]  
We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to  
Turn it all around or to throw it all always  
Gotta tell them that we love them while we  
Got the chance to say  
Gotta live like we're dying

[Blaine and Kurt]  
If your plane fell out of the skies  
Who would you call with your last goodbye

[Rachel]  
Should be so careful who we let fall out our lives

[Santana and Brittany]  
So when we long for absolution  
They'll be no one on the line

[Finn, Santana, Brittany, Puck and Marley]  
Yeah we gotta start looking at the hand  
Of the time we've been given  
This is all we got and we gotta start thinking  
If every second counts on the clock that's ticking  
Gotta live like we're dying

[Rachel, Artie, Mike, Mercedes, Quinn and Kurt]  
We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to  
Turn it all around or to throw it all away  
Gotta tell them that we love them while we  
Got the chance to say  
Gotta live like we're dying

[Marley and Jake]  
Oh like we're dying, oh like we're dying

[Rachel and Finn]  
Like we're dying, oh like we're dying

[Finn, Rachel, Puck and Quinn]  
We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to  
Turn it all around or to throw it all away  
Gotta tell them that we love them while we  
Got the chance to say  
Gotta live like we're dying

[Jake and Marley]  
You never know a good thing until it's gone

[Ryder and Kitty]  
You never see a crash until it's head on

[Puck and Quinn]  
Why do we think we're right when we're dead wrong

[Finn and Rachel]  
You never know a good thing till it's gone

[Finn]  
Yeah we gotta start

[Finn, Puck, Artie, Jake, Ryder, Mike]  
Looking at the hand of the time we've been given  
This is all we got so we gotta start thinking  
Every second counts on the clock that's ticking

[Finn and Rachel]  
Gotta live like we're dying

[Finn]  
Yeah we only got

[Finn, Rachel, Puck, Quinn, Blaine, Tina and Kurt]  
86,400 seconds in a day to  
Turn it all around or to throw it all away  
Gotta tell them that we love them while we got the chance to say

[Jake and Marley]  
Gotta live like we're dying

[Marley and Kitty]  
Like we're dying, oh like we're dying

[Mike and Tina]  
Like we're dying, oh like we're dying

[Finn and Rachel with Puck, Quinn, Mike, Kurt, Santana, Mercedes and New Directions]  
We've only got 86,400 seconds in a day to  
Turn it all around or to throw it all away  
Gotta tell them that we love them while we got the chance to say

[Finn and Rachel]  
Gotta live like we're dying

As soon as the song ended, everyone went in for a group hug, hearing a chorus of 'I love you's' throughout the auditorium. The love fest between the alumni and New Directions was cut short when they heard someone clapping right behind them. Everyone turned around to see none other than Mr. Schue, leaning on one of the auditorium chairs. He walked over to the group and gave them all a loving smile.

"Are you guys okay?" Mr. Schue wondered. The kids looked at one another then back at Mr. Schuester. To be honest, they weren't quite sure they would be all right after the ordeal but at least they were all alive.

"We're fine Mr. Schue, don't worry." Finn spoke for everyone. Mr. Schue sat down on one of the stools, staring at every single face standing on the stage.

"You know…I was afraid that I wouldn't have seen you guys ever again. I was afraid I wasn't going to hear Finn's raspy singing voice, or Rachel and Mercedes belting out beautiful loud notes, Puck playing the guitar, Mike dancing…Brittany's funny yet someone puzzling one-liners, Kurt's fashion sense…Santana's witty remarks…or any of the New Directions. Today may have taught me a lot of things." Mr. Schuester felt himself on the verge of tears as he stared at everyone in the room. "You can't take things for granted, ever…I almost lost a lot of you today and I don't know what I would have done if I did. And the thing that amazes me is that you were able to take that fear…and put it into that song. That was the single most beautiful thing I've ever heard and I am so proud of each and every one of you. To think I would never tell any of you that scared me…I love you guys. We're a family. And I wouldn't trade this family in the room for anything in the entire world." Rachel was the first one to reach Mr. Schuester, giving him a hug with a smile plastered on her face.

"And we love you too Mr. Schue. You've meant so much to all of us." Rachel said. After Rachel said her piece, everyone crowded around them and commenced into a group hug. That day had been scary, but you never would have guessed anything had went wrong by looking at the love and the compassion in the room at the moment.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Payphone by Maroon 5 (Sung by Marley Rose and Jake Puckerman), Remedy (I Won't Worry) by Jason Mraz (Sung by Artie Abrams, Ryder Lynn, Blaine Anderson, Sam Evans and Joe Hart), Live Like We're Dying by Kris Allen (Sung by Finn Hudson, Noah "Puck" Puckerman, Rachel Berry, Mike Chang, Mercedes Jones, Quinn Fabray, Blaine Anderson, Kurt Hummel, Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce, Marley Rose, Artie Abrams, Jake Puckerman, Ryder Lynn, Tina Cohen-Chang and Kitty Wilde with New Directions)_


	42. Brittana & Finchel: Half Of My Heart

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. New Directions competed in Regionals but everything came to an abrupt halt when Hunter brought a gun to McKinley and threatened to hurt Finn. It made everyone realize that they needed each other. Also, New Directions doesn't know if they're going to Nationals or not. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did. :)**

* * *

Finn tried his hardest to make sure that everything went back to normal after the almost school shooting, but was finding it difficult to cope with it. He almost lost everything he ever cared about, and to make things worse, he almost lost Rachel. He had to admit, it wasn't just the almost shooting that was bothering him, there was something else. He received a letter the night before, and after opening it his mood changed from solemn, to him being a part of the Walking Dead. He was losing his track of focus, and that was something everyone around him noticed as he started to get ready to head back to New York. Finn sat on the bed, placing his belongings in his suitcase with an almost absentminded daze as Kurt entered the room holding different colors of fabric in his hand.

"Finn, you're a guy who likes guy things. I need your help." Kurt snapped Finn out of his funk for the moment. Finn looked over to Kurt, seeing the fabric and letting out a groan.

"Kurt, you know damn well that I'm not good at this stuff." Finn groaned, laying his head back on the pillow.

"Well I need your help, Finn. Come on, this is for your wedding. Do you want the best man and the groomsmen to wear puce or pink ties?" Kurt held out the fabrics in front of Finn's face.

"Isn't puce and pink the same crap?" Finn sighed, sounding slightly annoyed.

"No, it's not the same thing!" Kurt swatted at Finn with the pink…or was it puce…fabric. Finn continued to stare at the celling, causing Kurt to become concerned. "Finn, are you okay?" Finn stammered for a moment, then decided that he had to share with someone how he was somewhat feeling.

"I'm not sure how I feel, I mean…after Hunter almost shooting up the school, I feel kind of numb inside. I know Rachel is okay but…what if she wasn't? What if Hunter did something to her and I wasn't there to help her?" Kurt walked over to his brother and sat down, placing a hand around his shoulder.

"Rachel is fine. She's alive, she's well, and she's here. You can't let what Hunter almost did destroy you Finn. It's not healthy." Kurt soothingly told his stepbrother. "And now you get to go back to New York and spend time with her before school starts tomorrow."

"Yeah, but I just can't help but think what if Hunter actually had gotten through with what he did." Finn admitted.

"Well, the point is he didn't. So there's no use crying over spilled milk." Kurt got up from his chair, staring over at Finn. "Look, we need to start planning your wedding. If you want it to be in three months then you have to start planning like there's no tomorrow."

"You're just excited because Rachel's letting you take care of some details." Finn smirked. Kurt appeared shocked then let out a sly grin.

"How you know me so well. Anyway, Rachel said that we were meeting our friends and New Directions at the Lima Bean in order to say goodbye to everyone. Come on." Kurt then turned on his heels and exited the room, leaving Finn to mull over what was going on. Finn continued to lie on the bed, heaving out a heavy sigh.

* * *

The Lima Bean was simply buzzing with the New Directions and the alumni saying their goodbyes before splitting up until who knew when. The New Directions were still unsure whether they would be going to Nationals or not, and after not hearing anything all morning they figured that they had missed their opportunity. They spent that Sunday afternoon at the coffee shop, exchanging stories and letting out their worst fear from the almost shooting from the day before. Finn, Rachel and Kurt entered the Lima Bean, spotting their friends as they took a seat near them.

"Good thing you came." Quinn let out a smile towards Finn and Rachel.

"We couldn't miss saying goodbye to our friends." Finn said, trying to forge a smile on his face. Rachel noticed that Finn was uneasy but decided to let it go for the moment. "So what did you really want us here for?"

"Well Finn, we noticed that you've been a little…uneasy since what happened yesterday." Kurt tried to be considerate towards Finn's feelings.

"In other words, Kurt wants to tell you that you need to stop being a mopey mess." Santana blurted out. Everyone glared at Santana while she looked at her friends. "What, was I supposed to be soft and considerate because that's not me."

"You could care a little more Santana." Kurt squinted his eyes towards her. "Finn almost lost everything yesterday."

"And so did you and so did I, but you don't see me getting worked up about it." Santana shrugged her shoulders. "Look, what happened yesterday happened and we could be grateful that nothing bad happened to our friends."

"But Santana, you're not getting the point." Brittany spoke out of nowhere. "You're making it seem like it's not okay for Finn to be upset for almost losing Rachel. So if you lost me or if Blaine lost Kurt, what would you do?"

"I would be upset but I would have to move on. The point is that you're still here and Blaine is still here. There's no point in mulling over what happened." Santana shrugged her shoulders. Brittany got up from her chair and started leaving the Lima Bean. "Brittany, where are you going?"

"You made it really clear, Santana. I basically mean nothing to you." Brittany headed towards the door and left the coffee house, as the other New Directions stared over at their usually clueless friend.

"What is she upset about?" Santana shook her head.

"Santana, I don't think this is the time for the pretend tough attitude." Rachel snapped. Santana shook her head towards Rachel, crossing her arms.

"Berry, what the hell are you talking about?" Santana sounded almost offended.

"Brittany thinks that you don't care about her." Rachel sighed. "Look, it would be really tough if I had lost Finn and I wouldn't be able to move on like that. You said you'd be upset…but if it were me in your shoes, I would have been _devastated_. I know you didn't lose Brittany, but what if you did? Would you really move on like you said you would?" Santana thought about Rachel's words for a moment, leaning back in her seat. Santana got up from her seat before turning to Rachel.

"Thanks Rachel." Santana simply said before heading out the door to go back after Brittany. Rachel watched Santana leave then turned back to her friends.

"Wow…" Was all Kurt said. Rachel leaned back in her chair staring over at Finn who had been eerily quiet the whole time.

"Finn, are you sure you're okay?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Finn quickly answered, grabbing the cup of coffee that was sitting there and taking a sip of it. Blaine's eyes widened and was about to argue with Finn about how that was his coffee, until Kurt put a hand on Blaine's shoulder.

"Let it go." Kurt simply said. Blaine relented then leaned back in his chair, huffing and puffing. Finn looked to Blaine absentmindedly, pointing to the coffee.

"The coffee has too much sugar." Finn said with a monotone voice.

"All right, snap out of it. What's wrong with you?" Kurt took the coffee from Finn then stared at his stepbrother.

"Nothing's wrong with me." Finn lied.

"You're being so monotone, that the Weird Girl in _Frankenweenie_ has more emotion than you." Kitty spoke up, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Finn, if something is bothering you then you need to tell us right here and right now so we can help you." Mercedes said, staring at her friend.

"Look, there's nothing wrong with me." Finn felt his voice getting louder as everyone else started staring at them.

"Dude, you're causing a scene." Puck muttered.

"I don't care if I'm causing a scene. There's nothing wrong with me." Finn got up from his chair and waved to everyone. "I'll keep in touch. I still have to finish packing." Finn headed out the door as Rachel stared at her fiancé with a helpless expression on her face. Something was seriously bugging him, and she was planning on getting it out of him.

"Don't worry about him, Rachel." Quinn spoke up. "He'll come around. I guess he's just trying to handle all of his emotions at once."

"Something else aside from the shooting is bothering him." Rachel concluded. "I mean, he was a little somber when we were getting ready for bed and then Kurt gave him a letter. He left then came back…and ever since then he was a little…upset. He didn't want to talk about it."

"Then there's only one thing you can do." Kitty eyed Rachel. "You have to find that letter and read it."

"What? You mean invade Finn's privacy?" Rachel sounded shocked.

"You want to find out what's bothering him, right?" Kitty questioned.

"Yes, but not that way. Finn will never trust me if I go behind his back and try to get information from him." Rachel said. "I value our trust and relationship too much to do something like that."

"Well then, you have to wonder what Finn isn't telling you. You say your relationship is all about trust…but he does not even trust you with what could be vital information." Kitty simply shrugged her shoulders. "If I'm you, I'd be pretty upset and I'd demand for answers. You say you value trust…but does Finn?" Rachel took in Kitty's words for a moment, wondering if she was right. Rachel did value trust in her relationship with Finn…but was Finn willing to give the same courtesy. Maybe Rachel did have to dig in deeper to figure out what was really bothering Finn. It had to be something else…

* * *

Earlier the next morning, Blaine entered the William McKinley High auditorium, still feeling the shock of being a part of one of the most emotional moments in his life. He never would have thought that McKinley would have been the target of a person that was so into Rachel that he would have shot her fiancé in order to get his way with her. Unfortunately, it was and it was one of those things that the students would need help coping with. While he stood in the auditorium, he wasn't expecting Brittany sitting on the stage, staring out into space. How long had Brittany been there?

"Brittany?" Blaine called out. Brittany turned her head towards Blaine, then staring back out into space. "Brittany? How long have you been here?" It was only 7:30 in the morning.

"Since yesterday." Brittany revealed. Blaine's eyes broadened at Brittany's statement. "I was so mad at Santana that I hid out here. Hopefully she went to New York by now"

"Um, she did go home…yesterday night. There was no need for you to hide out here." Blaine sat down next to Brittany but all she did was let out a sigh.

"I always thought I was so important to Santana, but lately it seems as if there's something that replaces out friendship or relationship. She refuses to quit her job that is bound to put her in danger and then she said that she'd move on if I was hurt in the gunfire." Brittany felt her voice break.

"Britt, I don't think that's what Santana meant when she said that. I mean, when someone we love dies we do have to move on eventually. I don't think our loved one would want to see us become ten tons with 90 cats because we're depressed by their death." Blaine tried to reason with Brittany. "But I understand why you're upset. Because Santana's been trying to replace her feelings for you with objects, right?"

"Right." Brittany said. "And it's hard because I still love her. I never stopped loving her…but it's hard because half of my heart is telling me to move on but the other half wants to keep loving her. But the problem is with all that's going on with Santana; I don't know if I can." Blaine continued to stare at Brittany, nodding his head while listening to her reasoning.

"And I can see why you feel the way you feel. I mean, I feel the same way about Kurt. Half of my heart is telling me to keep loving him but the other half says to get rid of him and move on. The only problem is…"

"You love him." Brittany finished Blaine's sentence.

"Right." Blaine smiled, then got up from his position. "Come on. We're going to sing together."

"Right now?" Brittany looked around, feeling nervous for a moment.

"Yes, right now." Blaine held out his hand for Brittany to take. Brittany shrugged her shoulders slightly, then grabbed Blaine's hand. "I actually have the perfect song for us to sing. Would you like to sing with me Brittany S. Pierce?" Brittany considered it for a moment before nodding her head with a smile. "All right…and since the Glee Club band is right behind us…"

"Where did they come from?" Brittany raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, we live here." The pianist let out a smile while Brittany and Blaine cringed.

"All right…let's just sing." Blaine shook his head, then nodded to the band as they started playing the song. Throughout the song Blaine and Brittany walked around the auditorium, letting out a grin, singing along like two old friends who knew each other for years.

[Blaine]  
I was born in the arms of imaginary friends  
Free to roam made a home out of everywhere I've been  
Then you come on crashing in, like the realest thing  
Tried my best to understand, all that your love can bring

[Blaine and Brittany]  
Oh half of my heart has a grip on the situation  
Half of my heart takes time  
Half of my heart gots a right mind to tell you that I

[Blaine](Brittany)  
Can't keep loving you (Can't keep loving you)

[Blaine and Brittany]  
Oh with half of my heart  
With half of my heart

[Blaine]  
Your faith is strong, but I can only fall short for so long  
Down the road, later on  
You will hate that I never gave more than  
Half of my heart

But I can't stop loving you (Brittany: I can't stop loving you)  
I can't stop loving you (Brittany: I can't stop loving you)  
I can't stop loving you  
With half of my

[Blaine and Brittany]  
Half of my heart  
Oh half of my heart  
Half of my heart's got a real good imagination  
Half of my heart's got you  
Half of my heart's got a real mind to tell you that

[Blaine]  
Half of my heart won't do  
Half of my heart is a shotgun wedding  
To a bride with a paper ring  
Half of my heart is a part of a man  
Whose never truly loved anything

[Blaine and Brittany]  
Half of my heart (Brittany: Oooh)  
Oh half of my heart (Brittany: Oh)  
Half of my heart (Brittany: Oooh)  
Oh half of my heart (Brittany: Oh)

Half of my heart's gots a real mind to tell you that  
I can't stop loving…you

As soon as the song ended, Brittany gave Blaine a hug, and Blaine had no trouble in reciprocating it. Brittany soon parted from the hug and went into her bag to get a letter that was in her pocket. She handed the letter to Blaine as he raised his eyebrow.

"That's my acceptance letter to Julliard for dance." Brittany smiled. "I had the highest SAT score and there were Julliard scouts in the stands during Sectionals that saw me dance. They want me to go on a full scholarship." Blaine continued to stare at the letter, then back up at Brittany.

"You had the highest SAT score?" Blaine couldn't believe it. Brittany out of all people did better on her SAT's than people anticipated.

"I know, I was shocked too." Brittany admitted, letting out a smile. "They want me to go to New York for a week to sit in some classes. They said they'd do anything to get me in the school."

"Brittany, that's fantastic. I'm really happy for you." Blaine smiled, nodding his head.

"I don't know if I'm going." Brittany said.

"What? What do you mean you don't know if you're going. You have to." Blaine protested.

"Santana's in New York, Blaine." Brittany sighed. "I don't know if I could be in the same city as her."

"Brittany, Julliard isn't about Santana. It's about you." Blaine put a hand on Brittany's shoulder, staring at her. "If Santana wants to go and get lost in life without taking your help then there's nothing you could do to prevent it. You have to go out there and you have to do what's right for you now. Maybe Santana will realize that she's wrong but for right now, she's not going to listen. This is going to sound cruel but the best thing that you can do right now is forget about her. She's not worth your time." Brittany contemplated Blaine's words for a moment but before she could commit to anything, Marley entered the auditorium as if she were looking for someone.

"Blaine, Brittany." Marley walked towards the stage as Blaine turned to Marley.

"What is it?" Blaine asked.

"Mr. Schuester said that the judges from Regionals called." Marley let out a deep breath. "He wants to see us now in the choir room." Brittany and Blaine looked to one another then back at Marley.

"All right." Blaine and Brittany followed Marley to the choir room where the other members of New Directions were sitting in their seats with anticipation. They wanted to know if they would be participating in Nationals. Mr. Schuester entered the choir room, staring at every one of his pupils before letting out a sigh.

"All right, I got word from judges from the Regionals competition about where New Directions stands." Mr. Schuester noticed that they were leaning forward, interested in what Mr. Schuester was going to say. Mr. Schuester's face lit up into a grin while pointing at them. "New Directions is going to Nationals for a third straight year!" Everyone in the group started screaming and jumping up and down in excitement. They were going to Nationals! In New York City! They couldn't believe it!

"So we beat the Starlight Knights, right?" Jake turned to Mr. Schuester who pursed his lips at Jake's question.

"Well…the judges said that two of the teams that were originally supposed to compete dropped out because they ran out of members so the Starlight Knights made it to Nationals as well…along with a group called The Hoosierdaddies. I haven't checked The Hoosierdaddies yet, but I'm sure they're just as powerful as we are. So we need to step our game up." Mr. Schuester eyed the kids in the classroom who suddenly realized that Nationals was the big leagues. It was time to step it up and lay it all on the line. For some of them it was their last competition…ever.

"Don't worry Mr. Schuester, I'm sure that we'll do just great." Tina smiled then stood up with a smirk. "As long as I get a solo."

"Wait, what?" Ryder turned back around towards Tina, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean this is my last competition. It's only right that I get a solo." Tina spoke in a diva-like manner. "Rachel Berry got a solo in her last competition and Finn who isn't the most vocally sound person was able to lead us through 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light'. I mean, I know we won Nationals but this is a different team. There is no Mercedes, no Santana, no Quinn, no Rachel and no Finn. I'm the perfect choice for the solo."

"Hello, what about the rest of us seniors?" Artie shook his head, looking over at Tina. "If you get a solo then I want a solo."

"And if Artie wants a solo then I want a solo." Blaine huffed.

"Doesn't your voice ever get tired of hogging the mike?" Kitty sniped. "We're tired of hearing your voice."

"But what if I want the solo." Sam argued with them. "I didn't even sing at Sectionals or Regionals. Come on, I deserve some recognition."

"If that's the case then I want to sing a solo." Brittany firmly said. "I didn't sing at Regionals."

"Brittany, your voice isn't strong enough to win us at Nationals." Tina haughtily said.

"But we won Sectionals." Brittany argued.

"Because of _Rachel_." Tina smirked. "Not because of you. Your voice isn't powerful enough to persuade the judges to vote for us."

"And your voice is?" Brittany rudely asked, standing up and turning to Tina.

"My voice is better than your voice." Tina simply stated. "And you can't argue that. It's a fact."

"It is not a fact." Brittany furrowed her eyebrows, looking over at Tina. "I can sing just as well as you can!"

"No you can't. All you can do is use auto-tune and pretend to sing Britney Spears and Ke$ha. I don't even know how you're in this club. You contribute nothing and you just stand in the background!" Tina spat back.

"ALL RIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mr. Schuester stood up from his chair and looked to everyone in the room. "Not another word from any of you." Brittany turned back around to Mr. Schuester with tears in her eyes.

"Fine…how about two words then." Brittany grabbed her backpack then turned back to Tina. "I quit." Brittany then walked out and slammed the door behind her. Mr. Schuester looked over to Tina while the sophomores shared Mr. Schuester's gaze.

"Way to go, Tina." Jake sarcastically said. "Now none of us will get to compete because Brittany quit. Are you happy now?" As the bell rang, the New Directions grabbed their backpacks and walked out the door, leaving Tina sitting by herself in the choir room. She didn't mean to make Brittany quit…but she was tired of not being appreciated.

* * *

Rachel sat at the kitchen table, snacking on an apple while waiting for Finn to come into the kitchen. Rachel noticed that since they came home from Lima, Finn had been acting odd and even going as far as avoiding Santana, Rachel and Kurt. Rachel saw Finn entering the kitchen, then contemplated on whether or not he should continue on his way to the fridge.

"Finn, can I talk to you please?" Rachel wondered. Finn leaned against the wall then decided to take a seat next to her. As Finn sat down, Rachel put down the letter in front of him, causing his face to twist into confusion.

"Where did you get this?" Finn asked.

"It doesn't matter where I found it. We need to talk about this Finn." Rachel stood firm. "Why didn't you tell me that the Army ignored your request to change your father's discharge status?"

"Why tell you? It just means I'm a failure." Finn moped, taking the letter and shaking his head.

"Finn, I'm your fiancée. I should know what's going on and I want to help you in any way that I can." Rachel sighed.

"I don't want to force my problems on you." Finn sounded frustrated.

"You're not forcing your problems on me." Rachel shook her head.

"Rachel, I think it's best that I don't tell you all my problems." Finn felt his face twist into anger and Rachel knew he was about to snap.

"Finn, why won't you let me help you. You can't do this all on your own." Rachel continued to press.

"Because if I tell you my problems, then I'm going to start depending on you for everything!" Finn yelled.

"And what's the matter with that?!" Rachel's tone matched Finn's.

"BECAUSE IF I LOSE YOU THEN I'LL BE LOST!" Finn bellowed, causing Rachel to take a step back for a moment. Finn calmed down immediately as tears started to pour down his face. He continued to sob as Rachel started rubbing his back soothingly.

"Is that what was bothering you?" Rachel sweetly said. Finn looked up to his fiancée and nodded his head, the tears still evident. Rachel pulled her chair next to Finn's, looking into his eyes. "Finn, you're not going to lose me."

"But I almost did, to Hunter." Finn wiped his tears while Rachel continued to look at him.

"But I'm still here, babe. All right? Hunter's locked away in jail and I'm sitting next to you right now. I'm not going to let anything happen to me or you or us." Rachel promised. Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn as he let out a deep breath.

"I don't ever want to lose you…I've lost you too many times and I don't want it to happen again." Finn admitted.

"But I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere, okay? I promise." Rachel said. She pressed a kiss to Finn's forehead, taking one of her hands into his. "Whatever happens we'll get through this together. I'll help you with the army discharge thing, your dance final, _Les Mis_, our wedding. I'll help you through everything. It's not fair that you're suffering on your own." Finn and Rachel continued to stare at one another as Finn let out a sigh.

"I love you…" Finn simply said. Rachel knew that Finn wanted to pour his heart out to her, but right now just saying that he loved her was enough. Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's lips, their kiss escalating to a make-out session—until there was a knock on the door. Finn and Rachel parted, turning their heads towards the door. "I wonder who that could be."

"I'll get the door." Rachel got up from her chair and walked over to the door. When Rachel opened the door, her expression froze and she felt herself tense up. "J…Jesse St. James?" At the mention of that name, Finn abruptly got up from the chair and walked over to the door in anger.

"Rachel, Finn. What a surprise." Jesse let out a smile that Rachel nor Finn could tell was sincere or not.

"Jessie? What are you doing here?" Rachel shook her head, still staring at Jesse.

"Oh, you didn't hear. I was cast in a Broadway play." Jesse continued to smile at Rachel.

"You were?" Finn asked. Finn wasn't shocked about Jesse being cast in a Broadway play. He was very theatrical after all. "I guess that's great?"

"That's wonderful, Jesse." Rachel tried to be as polite as possible. "But I don't understand your visit. How did you find us?"

"I have my sources." Jesse smirked.

"_Rachel and Finn live in Bushwick together, if you ever want to find her to tell her the great news." Tina spoke into her cellphone, walking down the halls on her way to her next class._

"Wait, I still don't get it. Why are you here?" Rachel shook her head.

"Because, I was cast as the lead male in the musical…_Funny Girl_. I'm playing Nick and I heard that you were playing Fanny. Congratulations, we're playing a married couple." Jesse smiled. Finn and Rachel's jaws dropped at the revelation. Jesse was playing her husband on Broadway…and in that moment, it felt like Rachel's world was crashing down on her.

* * *

_Song Featured: Half Of My Heart by John Mayer Ft. Taylor Swift (Sung by Blaine Anderson and Brittany Pierce)_


	43. Rachel & New Directions: Popular Song

**_A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Brittany got accepted to Julliard and gets to go for an orientation...but continues to worry about Santana, causing Blaine to assure her that she has to think about herself. However, Brittany gets more than she bargained for when they argue over Nationals and she leaves New Directions because Tina tells her she's not important. Finn worries that he won't have Rachel around forever so won't tell her his problems. But they straighten things out-until Jesse St. James shows up and reveals that he's going to be in Funny Girl playing Rachel's husband. Awkward...and that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, but I wish I did. Enjoy and review if you'd like me to continue with the story, have any storyline ideas for Kurt, Blaine, Santana and Brittany or any song ideas. Thanks so much in advance and enjoy! :)**

* * *

"There is no way that Jesse can be my onstage husband in _Funny Girl_." Rachel paced back in forth in her bedroom while Finn rummaged through the drawers looking for a clean pair of boxers. Finn had heard Rachel rant about how she didn't want Jesse to be a part of _Funny Girl_ for the last two hours—she even sat on the toilet seat while Finn showered, ranting about her problems.

"Rachel, the director made a choice to have Jesse as Nick. The least you could do is give him a chance." Finn spoke while putting his boxers on under the towel that was wrapped around his waist. As soon as he was able to secure his underwear, he removed the towel from his waist and started looking for a pair of sweatpants.

"Wait a minute; you out of all people want me to give Jesse St. James a chance?" Rachel shook her head. "You almost beat the crap out of him at our junior prom because you felt like he was inappropriately touching me—which I will blame on your jealousy. Not to mention you looked like you were going to kill him when he was being sarcastic about our wedding in Chicago."

"Well, I have to grow up and face facts. Jesse is going to play Nick on Broadway and everything that happens on stage won't matter because I know at the end of the day, you love me." Finn spoke in an almost adult-like manner.

"Finn Hudson speaking with reason?" Rachel became impressed as she walked over to her fiancé "Where did this come from?"

"Well, I figured since we're going to be married soon, I have to start thinking more like an adult and acting like one." Finn said while Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well, you acting like an adult is very sexy…" Rachel muttered then pressed her lips to Finn's. Finn continued to kiss Rachel, then placed his forehead on hers.

"Are you nervous about your first rehearsal tomorrow?" Finn wondered.

"I'm a little nervous." Rachel admitted. "I mean, I'm just me who got the role of a lifetime…but what if I mess up or something?"

"You're not going to mess up." Finn assured her. "I have faith in you. You're going to do just great. I mean, you're the girl that practices until her vocal cords bleed. You helped us win Sectionals, Regionals and Nationals. You're amazing…and everyone is going to see just how amazing you are tomorrow." Rachel's smile brightened hearing Finn's words as she placing another kiss on his lips.

"You know Finn…" Rachel spoke seductively, going up and whispering into his right ear. "I don't know why you put those on…" Finn knew exactly what Rachel was talking about as he picked her up and placed her on the bed, getting ready to show her just how much he loved her.

* * *

McKinley High the next morning was dreadful for Tina. She felt like she was alienated by the Glee Club, especially after she made Brittany quit. She entered the choir room, seeing New Directions sitting in their chair, they're eyes turning to daggers when they stared at her. Tina simply huffed and headed up to her seat, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"Hey, so has anyone seen Brittany?" Jake asked as if he was actually asking a question. "Oh, wait…she's not in the Glee Club anymore because of Tina." Jake eyed Tina as she snarled at him.

"Can it, Puckerman." Tina snapped.

"Well, we all have every right to be pissed with you." Ryder defended Jake. "You were the one that made Brittany feel unimportant."

"We don't need Brittany." Tina simply said.

"What do you mean we don't need Brittany?" Marley asked. "Brittany is our best female dancer. Without her, we're sure to lose."

"We don't' need Brittany, sophomore." Tina growled.

"Okay, why are you acting so catty?" Kitty came out of nowhere and shook her head. "Marley has a point. Without Brittany, we're going to lose and it's your fault. Also, we don't have enough members to actually compete."

"Then we'll find someone else. We don't need Brittany to compete for Nationals." Tina assured them. "Look, leave finding the 12th member to me."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Marley was a bit skeptical.

"I know what I'm doing." Tina got up from her seat to leave the room. As she left the room, she stopped in her tracks to see Blaine entering the room with Sam. Blaine stared over at the rest of New Directions with a saddened look.

"There's no way that we can win Nationals without Brittany." Blaine said.

"But what can we do?" Kitty shook her head, sharing Blaine's expression. "Tina doesn't want to bring back Brittany and I doubt Brittany would want to come back after what Tina said to her."

"The truth is…this is our last competition…for the seniors." Artie pointed out. "I would hate that Brittany missed the competition because Tina wants to be a prima donna."

"Then we all know what we have to do." Blaine dashed into the closet of the Glee room and moments later came out as his superhero alter ego Night Bird. "We have to get Brittany to come back to Glee Club…and it's a job for the greatest superhero in McKinley High history…Night Bird."

"I'm down." Artie said.

"Dude, no wonder you're the new Rachel. You're brilliant." Sam let out a grin. "And I'll help you get Brittany back in the Glee Club."

"There's one problem with trying to get Brittany back in the Glee Club…" Mr. Schuester entered the room, giving the group a solemn look. "She's not in Lima."

"Wait, what?" Marley's eyes widened.

"Where is Brittany?" Jake sounded a bit surprised.

"She went to New York because she was accepted on a scholarship to Julliard. She went for orientation." Mr. Schuester explained. "So our assignment is to find someone to replace Brittany for Nationals."

"Wait, so we still have to find a new member for New Directions?" Marley turned back towards Tina as Tina let out a smirk.

"It wouldn't matter if we found a new member to replace Brittany, there's no one in this school that can dance like her." Artie argued. "We need Brittany."

"Well, in the meantime we don't have Brittany." Mr. Schuester explained. "So we're going to have to go through it without her. Now, get ready for our recruitment number."

"No, no way are we doing a recruitment member." Tina put her hand up while shaking her head. "Last time we did a recruitment number I had spaghetti in my hair because everyone thought we were losers. I'm not having that this time."

"And we're not having the attitude, Tina." Mr. Schuester gave her a serious look. "We're doing the recruitment number and we're going to do it in the courtyard. Besides, no one will throw slushies at you because there's no one left in the school that hasn't done it."

"The chess team could probably do it." Ryder mentioned, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, they're the only club that hasn't slushied us yet."

"Because they're beneath us." Tina rolled her eyes.

"Wait, so my Night Bird costume is going to go to waste?" Blaine sounded a bit disappointed. "It took me weeks to add enhancements. Kurt even made my costume a matching fanny pack."

"Actually, I think you're costume gave me a great idea for the group number…except there's no superheroes." Marley looked at Mr. Schuester who simply nodded his head.

"What did you have in mind Marley?" Mr. Schuester asked. While Marley was telling the Glee Club her plans, Blaine's mind trailed off to Brittany leaving Lima to head to New York. There had to be a way to get Brittany to come back and help them win at Nationals. Maybe Night Bird's mission wasn't kaput after all…as long as he had some help from his 'League of Justice'…

* * *

Finn entered NYADA heading down the halls to his dance class that afternoon. He was a little interested to see how dance class would go since Cassandra July had gone AWOL on them. As Finn entered his classroom, he noticed the last person he wanted to see was standing before him—Cassandra July.

"What the hell?" Finn muttered, staring at Cassandra.

"Surprise Finn." Cassandra gave Finn a fake smile then walked over to the mirror.

"I don't understand…" Finn dropped his backpack, staring over at Cassandra. "I thought you were on the lam…you almost killed me with your car."

"Yeah, I was on the lam but the police and I copped a plea deal. As long as I show up for my court date, my lawyer said that he could get me community service instead." Cassandra explained, not looking at Finn. "I'm actually surprised that you're surprised Finn. You should know by now that I get whatever I want."

"Well you're not going to get me if that's what you think." Finn shook his head, his face turning cold.

"Oh Finn, you don't understand…I know I'm not going to get you…but I could still break you and Rachel apart." Cassandra promised.

"Oh, and how are you going to do that?" Finn scoffed.

"Simple Finnegan, I heard that Schwimmer was in that Broadway play _Funny Girl_." Cassandra said.

"And?" Finn didn't get where she was going with it.

"I knew that they were casting for the lead of Nick for the Broadway play. To make her time miserable there…I decided to turn to the one person that I knew would give Rachel a blast from the past…Jesse St. James." Cassandra noticed Finn's twitch in anger, now knowing exactly what was going on here.

"Wait a minute…you convinced the director to give the part of Nick to Jesse St. James?! In order for him to get close to Rachel?!" Finn practically screamed.

"That's the point, yeah." Cassandra nodded her head, then turned her head towards the mirror. "I knew that it would grind your gears…and that there would be nothing that you could do about it."

"Rachel's going to know that you set her up, because I'm going to tell her." Finn pointed to Cassandra then started to make his way out the classroom door.

"Finn, you do realize that you and Jesse don't have the best track record." Cassandra smirked.

"And?" Finn turned around shaking his head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Rachel will think you're jealous…and that's exactly what I want." Cassandra chuckled. "I want her to think that you're jealous so she'll think you're crazy and leave you."

"But I'm not jealous." Finn sternly said.

"Yes you are." Cassandra tried to convince him.

"I'm not."

"Fine, You're right, You're not jealous."

"I am?"

"Exactly. You're jealous." Cassandra turned back to the mirror as Finn plastered a confused expression on his face. Did he just admit to Cassandra that he was jealous? No way. Finn turned towards the door but saw Rachel entering the classroom while digging into her backpack—and on the phone.

"Yeah, Jesse I have the script. I'll see you at rehearsal this afternoon…" Rachel's voice trailed off as she looked up to see Cassandra staring over at her. Rachel pressed the screen on her iPhone as she looked over to Finn. "What's going on here?"

"Um…Cassandra's our teacher…" Finn told her sheepishly.

"No…oh, no…no, no, no." Rachel shook her finger, staring at Cassandra. "I'm not having this. Carmen Tibideaux is going to hear about this."

"Sorry Schwimmer, she's the one that said I could have my job back." Cassandra smirked. Rachel looked to Finn, seeing that he was just as disgusted as she was. "Looks like I'm stuck being your dance teacher."

"Wait…if you're still here then what about…" Rachel turned her head seeing that someone had entered the classroom. It was none other than Brody.

"You were talking about me, Rachel?" Brody smirked.

"Admit it, Schwimmer and Jack the Giant. You're stuck with us for the rest of the school year…maybe even longer." Cassandra teased. Finn looked to Rachel then put his hand in his pocket. "Now, how about you warm up because today's lesson is going to literally kick your ass." Finn and Rachel looked to Brody and Cassandra, feeling stuck. How were they supposed to safe at NYADA if Cassandra and Brody hounding them…probably for the rest of their NYADA careers?

* * *

After dance class, Rachel led Finn to the auditorium and stood there staring at him, playing with the buttons of his shirt. Finn looked at Rachel with a loving grin, knowing that she was slightly nervous about her rehearsal for _Funny Girl_.

"So, do you really have to direct _Les Mis_ right now?" Rachel sounded a bit unsure.

"Yes, I do. It's for a grade." Finn nodded his head, noticing that Rachel was still feeling uneasy. "Hey, you're going to do great on your first day of rehearsal. I promise you."

"But what if I mess up or something happens?" Rachel wondered.

"Well, nothing's going to happen and you're not going to mess up. If you think that way then it's going to happen. Just go out there and have a good time." Finn assured her. "You're a star Rachel, and you need to show the world that." Finn's words eased Rachel as she pressed a kiss to his lips.

"I love you…" Rachel put her forehead to his.

"And I love you…" Finn smiled back. His smile then faltered a bit as he continued to stare at her. "You're not going to fall for Jesse again…are you?" Rachel laughed slightly at Finn's insecurity then kissed him passionately. After a moment, Rachel parted and stared Finn in the eye.

"Does that kiss mean that I still love Jesse?" Rachel smirked. Finn's smile returned as he saw Ronald coming towards them.

"Oh brother, it's time for me to do my director duties." Finn answered, giving Rachel a kiss on her forehead.

"Forget about Ronald's unrequited crush on me and just do what you do best…lead." Rachel said. Rachel then started walking down the hallway, hearing Finn call out some helpful words to her.

"You're a star, Rachel. Show everyone why you belong there!"

* * *

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Tina wondered, staring out at Blaine and Sam.

"This is going to work." Blaine promised. New Directions were in the courtyard, doing the assignment that the Glee Club had been ordered to do by Mr. Schuester—recruit new members.

"I don't get why we have to recruit more members. We're perfectly capable of heading to Nationals, like this." Tina looked around to her teammates.

"Because we need twelve members, not eleven." Jake rolled his eyes, explaining it to Tina.

"Look, we have to go out there and we have to wow them. At least, that's what Kurt told me to do." Blaine answered, staring at his teammates.

"And we're taking advice from Kurt, who's not even in this club?" Tina sounded exasperated.

"Look, it's your fault we're in this mess so the least you could do is help find us a 12th member." Marley snapped. Tina turned to Marley about to say something—until Sugar came in between them.

"I could give you money if you both shut up…on second thought no, because then you'll have money. Carry on." Sugar stepped back.

"Can we just go out there and perform? I don't think that I could take anymore of this arguing." Ryder sighed.

"Fine, fine." Tina rolled her eyes as Ryder went over to the boom box. For a second, everyone in the courtyard stared at one another wondering what was going on….until they saw Ryder with New Directions belting out a song. Everyone stared at them for a moment, wondering what in the world they were doing.

[Jake]  
Uno, Dos, Tres

[Ryder]  
It's been a really, really messed week  
Seven days of torture, seven days of bitter  
And my girlfriend went and cheated on me  
She's a California dime but it's time for me to quit her

[Artie]  
La, la, la (Ryder: Whatever)  
La, la, la (Ryder: It doesn't matter)  
La, la, la (Ryder: Oh well)  
La, la, la

[Ryder, Artie, Marley and Kitty with New Directions]  
We're going at it tonight, tonight  
There's a party on the rooftop, top of the world  
Tonight, tonight  
And we're dancing on the edge of the Hollywood sign  
I don't know if I'll make it  
But watch how good I'll fake  
It's all right, all right  
Tonight, Tonight

[Sam]  
I woke up with a strange tattoo  
Not sure how I got it, not a dollar in my pocket  
And it kind of looks just like you  
Mixed with Zach Galifinakis

[Jake]  
La, la, la (Marley: Whatever)  
La, la, la (Tina: It doesn't matter)  
La, la, la (Sugar: Oh well)  
La, la, la

[Ryder, Artie, Marley and Kitty with New Directions]  
We're going at it tonight, tonight  
There's a party on the rooftop, top of the world  
Tonight, tonight  
And we're dancing on the edge of the Hollywood sign  
I don't know if I'll make it  
But watch how good I'll fake it  
It's all right, all right  
Tonight, Tonight

[Blaine and Tina]  
Got me singing like whoa, oh (Marley and Ryder: Come on!)  
Oh, whoa (Marley and Ryder: It doesn't matter)  
Whoa, oh (Marley and Ryder: Everybody now)  
Oh, whoa

[Jake and Marley]  
Just don't stop let's keep the beat pumping  
Keep the beat up, let's drop the beat down  
It's my party, dance if I want to  
We could get crazy, let it all out

[Kitty and Ryder]  
Just don't stop let's keep the beat pumping  
Keep the beat up, let's drop the beat down  
It's my party, dance if I want to  
We could get crazy, let it all out

[Artie and Tina]  
It's you and me and we're running this town  
And it's me and you and we're shaking the ground and  
Ain't nobody gonna tell us to go  
Cause this is our show

Everybody!

[Blaine and Sam]  
Whoa, oh (Jake and Ryder: Come on!)  
Oh, whoa (Jake and Ryder: All you animals!)  
Whoa, oh (Jake and Ryder: Let me hear you now!)  
Oh, whoa

[Ryder, Artie, Marley and Kitty with New Directions]  
Tonight, Tonight  
There's a party on the rooftop, top of the world  
Tonight, Tonight  
And we're dancing on the edge of the Hollywood sign  
I don't know if I'll make it  
But watch how good I'll fake it  
It's all right, all right  
Tonight, Tonight

[Ryder]  
It's all right, all right  
Tonight, Tonight  
It's all right, all right  
Tonight, Tonight  
It's all right, All right  
Tonight, Tonight

Just singing like

[New Directions] (Ryder)  
Oh, whoa (Come on)  
Oh, whoa (All you party people)  
Oh, whoa (All you singletons)  
Oh, whoa (Even the white kids)  
Oh, whoa (Just don't stop let's keep the beat up)  
Oh, whoa (Keep the beat up, let's drop the beat down)  
Oh, whoa (It's my party dance if I'll want to)  
Oh, whoa (We can get crazy, let it all out)  
Oh, whoa (Just don't stop let's keep the beat up)  
Oh, whoa (Keep the beat up, let's drop the beat down)  
Oh, whoa (It's my party, dance if I want to)  
Oh, whoa (We can get crazy, let it all out)

At the end of their song, New Directions stood in the courtyard while every other clique stared at them as if they had two heads. The Cheerios and the Football team members eyed one another, before they looked at the group.

"What was that supposed to be for?" The Cheerio with the neck-brace asked.

"Um, we're recruiting a 12th member since Brittany Pierce quit." Ryder stuffed his hand in his pockets, staring over at the Cheerio. "This was a recruitment number." As New Directions continued to stare at everyone, they noticed the Chess team walking up to them. Marley got down off one of the steps, giving them a smile.

"Did you want to join New Directions?" Marley smiled. The chess members turned to one another then took a slushie from behind their backs and slushed Marley in the face. Jake quickly ran to Marley's aid as the entire student body let out a laugh.

"Look who's the losers now." One of the chess members laughed then snorted.

"It's not us!" The second member high fived one of his brethren.

"Oh no…" Jake muttered under his breath.

"RUN FOR COVER!" Artie yelled before all of New Directions started running towards the school entrance. Slushies began to fly everywhere towards New Directions, hitting every member. By the time the group entered the choir room, they were a rainbow mess.

"I didn't realize that we were supposed to look like walking Skittles." Marley sounded disgusted as she tried to take red Slushie from her hair.

"Tina, this is all your fault!" Ryder turned his head towards Tina. "If you had kept your opinion to yourself then we wouldn't have this problem. Brittany would probably still be here!"

"So it's my fault they slushied us?" Tina scoffed.

"YES!" Every other member of New Directions yelled towards Tina. Tina pursed her lips as the members went to the locker room in hopes of finding towels so that they could try to dry themselves off before their next class. Tina stood in the choir room, huffing and puffing about how they could possibly think it was her fault. She wasn't the one that kicked Brittany out of Glee Club. Brittany volunteered to leave. Tina scoffed while taking out the green slushie from her hair. There was no way that Brittany leaving was her fault. At least, not in Tina's mind.

* * *

After rehearsal, Rachel put her belongs in a bag while staring over at the stage. She had to admit that she was a little intimidated by the other cast members since they all had credits…but she was determined to show everyone that she belonged here. As Rachel continued to put her stuff away, she noticed someone standing in front of her…and judging by the designer shoes it had to have been the director's daughter, Margaret. Rachel had gotten the lead—but Margaret was the understudy, meaning if Rachel couldn't make any of the performances then Margaret would be Fanny Brice. Rachel looked up to Margaret, seeing that she was simply staring down at her with an annoyed expression.

"I don't see what my dad sees in you." Margaret shook her head. "You're not pretty and you're not special, so why are you Fanny Brice?" All rehearsal, Margaret had been criticizing Rachel about her singing and acting and even though it was only one day, it was getting extremely old.

"Because Margaret unlike you I can sing Fanny's songs. The show would be a bust with you as Fanny." Rachel spoke but didn't look Margaret in the eye.

"Did you just say that the show would be a bust with me as Fanny?" Margaret scowled.

"Pretty much. Yeah." Rachel admitted. Rachel got up from the stage with her bag in hand, but as she turned around, Margaret took Rachel's bag and threw it across the stage, causing Rachel to stare at Margaret in anger. "Are you insane?! That's my stuff!"

"Listen here cupcake. You may be hot stuff in Lima, Ohio or whatever loser town you're from but in New York, you're a nobody. And I will do whatever it takes in my power to make sure that you're not Fanny Brice come Opening Night. Fanny Brice is my role…not yours. No matter how long it takes, Fanny Brice is my role. I am _Funny Girl_. You're a wannabe show choir girl. So get this straight—don't get too comfortable as Fanny because you won't be her in two weeks." Margaret walked past Rachel and headed off the stage, leaving Rachel to stand there feeling unsure about herself. Margaret was out to get her. Cassandra July was out to get her. Brody was out to get her. Heck, even Hunter was out to get her. Everyone that Rachel bumped into either wanted her gone, wanted her or wanted Finn. Rachel walked across the stage to take her bag when she heard her phone go off. She looked at the text message and suddenly felt a smile appear on her face. The text was from Finn…and even though he wasn't in the auditorium, he sent a text that came at a perfect time.

_You ARE Funny Girl. XOXO. _

"Either you got news that you're the highest paid star on Broadway or Finn sent you a text." Rachel recognized the voice as she whipped her head to see Jesse standing there behind her.

"What are you doing here? I thought that practice ended." Rachel shook her head, grabbing her bag and started to head down the stairs.

"I figured I would practice singing. I have to be tip-top shape for Opening Night." Jesse simply said, shrugging his shoulders. "But, I couldn't help but overhear that Margaret was trying to psych you out. She's not Funny Girl. You are." Rachel couldn't help but let out a small smile towards Jesse, almost touched by his words.

"Well, that's nice Jesse. I mean, I wanted this role for so long and now it looks like it's going to come true." Rachel smiled. "It's just I wish that Broadway wasn't so catty."

"That's showbiz." Jessie admitted, getting on the stage. "You know, I couldn't keep my eyes off you during rehearsals and I have to tell you that you're going to captivate the audience. They're going to fall in love with you. I should know." Rachel continued to stare at Jesse, feeling more confident after his pep talk.

"Thank you Jesse. For everything." Rachel said, then started walking towards the stage. "You know, it's nice to have someone that I actually know in the play. I mean, it won't make it so scary come Opening Night."

"That's great. Hey, I know what makes you feel better that puts a smile on your face." Jesse walked over to the piano and stared over at Rachel. "A song." Rachel couldn't help but let out a laugh as she went on the stage next to Jesse.

"Even though when we dated, which I'm not sure how much of it was real…you remembered that I like to sing when I'm feeling blue." Rachel felt touched, staring at Jesse who nodded his head.

"Yep…you know the song _Popular_ by Wicked?" Jesse wondered.

"Are you kidding? I _love_ that song." Rachel sounded almost excited.

"Good, because we're going to put a twist to Popular…and make it more modern." Jesse started pressing buttons on the piano before the band came in full swing.

[Rachel]  
La, la, la, la  
You were a popular one, a popular chick  
It is what it is, now I'm popular-ish

[Jesse]  
Standing on the field with your pretty pompoms  
Now you're working at the movies selling popular corn  
I could have been a mess but I never went wrong  
Now I'm putting down my story in a popular song

[Rachel and Jesse]  
Now I'm putting down my story in a popular song

My problem, I never was a model  
I never was a scholar  
You were always popular  
You were singing, all the songs I don't know  
Now you're singing in the front row  
Cause my song is popular

[Jesse]  
Popular, I know about popular  
It's not about who are you or your fancy car  
You're only ever who you are  
Popular, I know about popular  
And all that you have do is be true to you  
That's all you ever need to know

[Rachel] (Jesse)  
So catch up (Cause you got an awful long way to go)  
So catch up (Cause you got an awful long way to go)

[Jesse]  
Popular, I know about popular  
It's nto about who you are or your fancy car  
You're only ever who you are  
Popular, I know about popular  
And all that you have to do is be true to you  
That's all you ever need to know

[Rachel]  
That's all you ever need to know

As soon as the song ended, Rachel and Jesse let out a laugh, forgetting everything that had happened previously with Margaret. Jesse stared over at Rachel then gave her a small smile.

"Rachel, can I be honest with you?" Jessie asked. Rachel's smile diminished slowly as she stared over at Jesse.

"Yeah, what is it?" Rachel moved her hair to the side, seeing that Jesse was still staring at her.

"The reason that I wanted to be in Funny Girl…was because I wanted to get close to you so we could be friends again." Jesse admitted. "I mean, I know I hurt you in the past and I know that I can't change what happened but if we could have a fresh start then that would be great. I like singing with you…and I know I'll never have a chance with you since you're getting married to Finn…but I still have time to be your friend." Rachel continued to look at Jesse, her smile widening.

"Well…then don't you worry…because I would love to be friends with you." Rachel said. Rachel walked over and gave Jesse a hug, one that Jesse reciprocated. Rachel and Jesse were into their hug that they didn't notice Finn, standing by the exit of the auditorium staring at them. Finn had decided to surprise Rachel at her rehearsal, but after seeing her in the arms of Jesse, he felt like he had to think things through a bit. What if Rachel still had feelings for Jesse? What if Finn was second string to Jesse St. James? Jesse was Broadway material. Finn was just…_Finn. _Finn walked out of the auditorium, making sure that the door didn't make a noise on his way out. He needed to think…before he made an action that he was going to regret.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Tonight, Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae (Sung by New Directions), Popular Song by MIKA feat. Ariana Grande (Sung by Rachel Berry and Jesse St. James)_


	44. Brittana & Finchel: Still Into You

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. New Directions ended up having trouble replacing Brittany for Nationals, and blamed Tina as if it was her fault. Well, it was. Finn pretends that he's okay with Jesse playing Rachel's onstage husband and becomes upset when Rachel and Jesse hug. Cassandra and Brody are back and you know that it can't be good. And where on earth is Kurt? No one has seen him. Wow. And here's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did. Please enjoy and review if you would like me to continue with the story. Thank you to all who reviewed my last chapter. They were all terrific and I'm so glad that you enjoy the story. But now I need to ask you guys something. I was considering writing a sequel to "Nobody Said It Was Easy" so I wanted to ask you guys two things:**

**1) Should I do the sequel and if I do...**

**2) There will be a cliffhanger for one couple, so which couple would you like to have a cliffhanger at the end of 'Nobody Said It Was Easy'? Brittana, Finchel or Klaine? Whichever couple gets the most answers, is the one that gets the cliffhanger. **

**Once again, thank you all so much for your support with this story. I've been babbling long enough. On with the next chapter! :)**

* * *

Finn sat in the kitchen that night, lost in his thoughts about what he saw in the auditorium while Santana went through the cabinets to look for something for her to eat for dinner. Santana continued to rummage through the cabinets, but the food inside the cabinets didn't interest her. After a while, Santana relented and took a can of Chunky's Soup, deciding on dinner. Santana turned to the table to see Finn sitting there as if he was in a daze. Santana wasn't going to admit it, but she was worried about Finn.

"Frankenteen, do you want soup?" Santana wondered. Finn looked to Santana, raising his eyebrow with interest.

"Did you say soup?" Finn asked.

"Ah, I knew it. Soup is the key to a guy's heart. I'd say a man but you look more like the human version of Porky the Pig from the _Looney Tunes_." Santana smirked. When she noticed Finn didn't say anything about her burn towards him, she really did become concerned. "Finn? Are you okay?"

"Can I ask you something?" Finn wondered.

"You want to ask me something? I'm not sure I'm the best person to give advice. After all Brittany hates me because of my job and for some reason Kurt is pissed at me because I borrowed his 'vintage hairbrush' that he swears Elvis used in his hair…but I found out about the hairbrush having Elvis's hair after I used it." Santana sat down at the table and grabbed a spoon from the drawer.

"You're going to eat the soup cold?" Finn sounded disgusted.

"It's how I ate soup when I was little. No need to heat it up. Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?" Santana opened the can of soup and started eating it cold.

"Anyway, I went to go pick up Rachel from her rehearsal to surprise her and I saw her and Jesse together. She was hugging him." Finn saw Santana wasn't seeing the dilemma just by the expression on her face. "Santana, she was hugging Jesse. What if she has feelings for him again?"

"I doubt Rachel has feelings for Jesse. I mean, unless she wants to spend all of her time with Jesse instead with you which I doubt will happen." Santana said, staring at Finn.

"But what if Rachel does begin to love Jesse again? Maybe I should talk to her about it." Finn thought aloud.

"No, don't talk to Rachel about it. She'll think you're jealous and I'm sure that's the last thing you want." Santana took a bite of her soup while smirking at Finn.

"So I'm supposed to pretend that I know nothing about the hug?" Finn questioned.

"Yes, pretend you know nothing. You're letting your imagination get to you, Finn. Rachel's not falling for Jesse and there's nothing for you to worry about." Santana looked back down to her soup, eating another spoonful. "Mmm…cold soup tastes good." Finn heard the door open, turning his head to spot Rachel entering the house with a smile on her face.

"I'm home from rehearsal." Rachel entered the kitchen to find Finn and Santana sitting there. "Hi babe." Rachel placed a kiss on Finn's lips before turning her head to see Santana still eating soup. "Is Santana eating soup from a can?"

"Yes, she is." Finn answered, staring over at Santana. Finn then cleared his throat as Rachel sat down next to him. "So how was rehearsal?"

"Rehearsal was great! Jesse's a great Broadway actor. I can see why they hired him for _Funny Girl_." Rachel let out a huge smile. "I think that he's the perfect leading man that compliments my voice. Don't you think?" Finn pursed his lips while Rachel spoke about Jesse and quickly got up from the chair.

"Excuse me…I have to go and puke." Finn muttered, turning away and heading towards the living room. Rachel looked to Santana as Santana shrugged her shoulders and continued eating her soup.

"Is Finn okay?" Rachel wondered.

"Finn is having his own issues." Santana shrugged her shoulders, putting some soup in her mouth. Rachel continued to stare at Santana before leaning back in her chair and thinking if something was possibly bothering Finn. As Santana ate her soup, she heard her phone go off, staring down at the text she received…but the number was blocked.

_Meat me downstairs._

"_Meat?_" Santana spoke to herself. Rachel looked over to Santana as Santana showed Rachel the text.

"That has to be Brittany." Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "Only she would confuse 'meet' and 'meat'."

"You think so?" Santana sounded surprised.

"Either Brittany or someone pretending to be Brittany…although why would Brittany be in New York. Hmm…I better go downstairs with you just in case." Rachel got up from the chair as Santana nodded her head.

"Just let me finish my soup." Santana pointed towards her can of soup and finished eating it, causing Rachel to chuckle at her friend.

* * *

After dinner, Rachel and Santana headed down the stairs in hopes of finding Brittany. If it was Brittany there, then she would leave Brittany and Santana to themselves…but if it was someone else, Rachel had pepper spray and Finn on speed dial, just in case. Rachel and Santana went outside of the building, looking around at their surroundings…until they spotted Brody leaning on the railing. Rachel went into her bag, staring at Brody with dagger eyes.

"I have pepper spray and I'm not afraid to use it." Rachel pointed it towards Brody, who shook his head.

"Calm down Rachel, I'm here for Santana." Brody pointed towards Santana. Rachel and Santana eyed one another then back at Brody.

"Well, then…let's ride." Santana smirked, walking towards Brody.

"Santana, Brody is bad news." Rachel felt uneasy in letting Santana and Brody go off together.

"Rachel, calm down…I'm sure Brody means no harm." Santana smirked. She then headed off with Brody, leaving Rachel standing there in confusion. She was unsure on what she should do. Should she go after Santana or should she go back upstairs and get Finn? Rachel contemplated a moment before heading back up the stairs to the Bushwick apartment in order to get Finn. As Rachel opened the door to the apartment, she heard Finn talking with someone in the living room. Rachel walked over to see Finn…and Brittany, sitting on one of the couches. Finn turned to Rachel, letting out a smile as Rachel walked over to them.

"Brittany?" Rachel shook her head, not believing that her friend was sitting in their apartment.

"Brittany's here because she's taking a tour of Julliard, so I said that she could stay here for a couple of days." Finn said. "I hope it's not a problem."

"Not at all." Rachel smiled then looked to them as if she had something tell them.

"Am I intruding on something? I mean, I could go back to Julliard but I heard there were hybrid cockroaches hidden in the mattresses." Brittany shrugged her shoulders.

"No, not at all." Rachel assured her. "You can stay here. I'm just surprised that you're not in Lima."

"I'm not wanted in Lima." Brittany stated.

"What?" Finn incredulously asked. "What makes you think that?"

"Because Tina didn't want me in Glee Club, so they're going to do Nationals without me." Brittany simply stated.

"But they can't do Nationals without you Brittany." Rachel sat down next to Brittany, staring over at her.

"And why not? They made it clear that I'm not a singer." Brittany sighed.

"But you're a dancer. A choreographer. Remember how you choreographed the dance numbers along with Mike from Nationals last year?" Brittany looked over to Rachel as Finn nodded in agreement. "Dancing is just as important as singing. Remember…Jake can't be the best dancer alone. He needs a girl to join him."

"Well, I have to think of my future. I'm going to Julliard, I'm going to be the flower girl at Lord Tubbington's wedding to Lady Tubbington and be a grandmother when they have cute adorable fat baby kittens who I will name Sir Tubbington, Madame Tubbington and Elton John." Brittany said with a straight face. "They'll see what they're missing now that I'm gone…" Brittany walked over to the kitchen while Rachel and Finn followed her. Brittany took out some cups and sat down at the table, hitting the cups and playing with them in a rhythm. Rachel and Finn continued to stare at Brittany as she started singing. Once they realized the song she was singing, they decided to join in with her, banging the pots and cups that were located in the kitchen.

[Brittany]  
I got my ticket for the long way round  
Two bottle whiskey for the way  
And I sure would like some sweet company  
And I'm leaving tomorrow, what do you say

[Brittany, Rachel and Finn]  
When I'm gone  
When I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me by my hair  
You're gonna miss me everywhere  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

[Rachel]  
I got my ticket for the long way round  
The one with the prettiest of views  
It's got mountains, it's got rivers  
It's got sights to give you shivers  
But it sure would be prettier with you

[Brittany Rachel and Finn]  
When I'm gone  
When I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me by my hair  
You're gonna miss me everywhere  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

[Brittany]  
When I'm gone  
When I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me by my walk  
You're gonna miss me by my talk  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

After Rachel, Brittany and Finn finished the song, the three of them burst out laughing from jamming out with pots and cups in the kitchen. After a moment, the laughing subsided but Rachel's smile was still on her face.

"See Brittany? They need your creativity. Who else could possibly think of playing a song with just cups and pots?" Rachel noticed Brittany thinking it over.

"Maybe I'll go back…but for now I want to check out Julliard." Brittany sighed, still thinking. Rachel continued smiling at Brittany—but something was nagging Rachel, and not in a good way. It was almost as if she had forgotten all about something…or _someone_.

* * *

Brody and Santana wandered along the streets of New York, with Santana becoming curious as to where Brody was taking her. As Brody and Santana ducked into an alleyway, Santana became little skeptical and frankly having a bad feeling about it. Santana slowed her steps but Brody seemed to have been almost in a rush.

"Santana, come on!" Brody egged on.

"Where are we going?" Santana slowly asked, then followed Brody.

"We're going to meet some friends of mine." Brody simply said without looking over to Santana. Santana hesitated, then followed Brody into one of the nearby building's. Brody headed to one of the apartments, and opened the door, seeing a couple of guys and girls sitting in the studio. "Hey, guys."

"Brody, who's your friend?" The guy with the beer can pointed towards Santana. Santana looked to Brody, then back at the guy. Santana could tell that he was drunk…she could smell the alcohol a mile away.

"This is a special friend of mine, her name is Santana." Brody smirked. Santana looked to Brody then decided to take a step back.

"Brody, I don't feel comfortable here." Santana muttered.

"Oh come on Santana…stay for a bit." Brody put a hand on Santana's shoulder, but Santana shrugged off Brody's arm as she headed towards the door.

"What exactly do you losers do while you're here? Drink? Get high? Not my style." Santana opened the door and started heading down the hallway. Santana felt an arm pull her back as she turned around to see Brody standing there. "Brody, get off of me. Rachel was right; I never should have followed you here." Santana started to head back towards the steps but the next thing she knew, she was forced against the wall with Brody staring at her. "Get off of me."

"You're going to do what I say." Brody spoke in a menacing voice. "You're going to do exactly as I say or else you will regret it."

"And how will I regret it?" Santana didn't seemed unfazed by Brody, causing Brody to become frustrated.

"You're going to respect me" Brody growled.

"I don't think so." Santana tried to pull away from Brody but it was no use. The more Santana struggled, the tighter Brody's grip became. "Let me go! LET ME GO!" Santana started to scream. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" The next thing Santana knew, Brody had slapped her across her face—extremely hard. Santana fell down to the floor, gripping her cheek while staring at Brody. Santana appeared to have been more in shock than anything else. Brody got close to Santana, eyeing her.

"I'll see you at work tomorrow. Wear something…_sexy_." Brody got up from his position and walked over to the apartment, leaving Santana all alone in the alley. Santana didn't bother putting up a strong face—she started sobbing, realizing that everyone around her had their best interests in mind for her—and she shook them all off for money.

* * *

"All right, I'm in my Robin costume, what was so important that I had to dress up like a superhero—and why are you dressed like a superhero?" Kurt spoke into the laptop in his room. Blaine had asked Kurt if he was willing to video chat with him and of course, Kurt said yes. The only thing that was off about having to video chat with Blaine was that Blaine was adamant on having Kurt in a superhero costume.

"Because you are a part of my 'League of Justice'." Blaine said. Finn entered Kurt's room, staring over at the video chat.

"All right, I'm here what is it?" Finn asked, pulling up a chair.

"Wait, Finn is a part of the 'League of Justice'?" Kurt asked, looking back to the laptop.

"Yep. I gave Rachel the job of keeping Brittany busy." Blaine answered.

"Wait, so if he's a part of the 'League of Justice' then why isn't he in costume?" Kurt pointed back towards Finn.

"Because being in costume is stupid." Finn simply stated. "All right, so what are we going to do to get Brittany to go back to New Directions? She's an amazing dancer and they need her to teach them the moves."

"Yeah, Mike can't teach them all on his own." Kurt admitted.

"All right, I'm working things out over here in Lima, so what I was thinking is that we let Tina think that she won. We get someone that isn't Brittany, can't dance like Brittany, can't sing like Brittany. Then she'll realize that we need Brittany and she'll beg to have Brittany back." Blaine said.

"Yeah, sounds great…but we'd have to convince Brittany that New Directions needs her." Finn let out a sigh. "She's not really into it. How about we just let Brittany sweat it out in New York for a while? She is here visiting Julliard. The least we could do is let her realize on her own how tough New York is."

"I agree. Rachel cried the first week she came to New York." Kurt recalled. "She was lonely and miserable. She's not so much anymore."

"All right then. So, you convince Brittany and I'll work on Tina." Blaine planned.

"Sounds good." Finn shrugged his shoulders, then got up from his chair.

"Where are you going?" Kurt wondered.

"I'm going to bed." Finn sounded as if he was depressed. "I had a long day."

"Wait, what happened? Did something happen between you and Rachel?" Kurt wondered. Finn looked out the door, hoping that Rachel wasn't around, before closing the door and heading back to his seat.

"I think Rachel is planning on dumping me." Finn blurted out.

"Wait, why would Rachel think of dumping you? She was just with me yesterday talking about the kind of wedding dress she wanted for your wedding." Kurt said.

"Because I went to go pick her up from her rehearsal today…and she was hugging Jesse St. James." Finn ran his hand through his hair.

"Wait, you're worried Rachel is going to leave you because she hugged Jesse?" Kurt asked, then burst out into laughter.

"Wait, who's Jesse?" Blaine spoke into the computer. Finn and Kurt looked towards the computer, realizing that Blaine didn't know who Jesse St. James was.

"Rachel's ex-boyfriend, Finn's archenemy. Finn does anything to protect Rachel from him. It's like _a _cheesy superhero movie." Kurt explained.

"I see." Blaine answered.

"Guys, what am I going to do? Rachel could be falling for him all over again!" Finn found his voice cracking at the thought that Rachel could leave him.

"Finn…just because Jesse is on Broadway, it doesn't mean that Rachel is falling for him." Kurt tried to assure his stepbrother. "Listen to me. Rachel constantly talks about you. She was telling me on the way home that although it was nice to see Jesse on Broadway…she couldn't wait to come home to you and tell you about her first day. She wouldn't even tell me how it went. She wanted _you _to be the first to know." After hearing Kurt's reasoning, Finn just stared at him. Finn was letting his imagination get the best of him. Finn got up from the chair and started to head towards his room.

"Thanks Kurt." Finn simply stated as he left the room. But as Finn entered his and Rachel's room, he didn't notice Rachel coming out of the bathroom while staring at him—hearing every word that Finn, Kurt and Blaine said.

* * *

Late that night, Santana entered the apartment with her hand on her cheek, still rubbing it from where Brody slapped her. She wasn't going to let anyone see her marking, thinking that it would be best if she kept it to herself. As Santana started to head to the kitchen, she noticed someone coming out of the kitchen. Santana had to do a double take, staring over at the figure that was exiting the kitchenette.

"_Brittany_?!" Santana blurted out.

"Santana?" Brittany looked to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Brittany, what are you doing here?" Santana asked.

"I'm touring Julliard this week because I got in. Rachel, Finn and Kurt said I could stay here for the week since there's hybrid bugs in the dorms. At least that's what the janitor told me. Anyway, what are you doing coming in late?" Brittany asked.

"Me? I was hanging out…" Santana started to come up with a lie, but Brittany could see right through Santana.

"You were hanging out with Brody. And what happened to your cheek? It's all blue and purple, kind of like a bruise." Brittany touched it while Santana flinched from the pain.

"Ow, Brittany…don't touch it." Santana went into the kitchen to get some ice. Brittany turned back around, following Santana as she leaned on the counter.

"Who did that to you?" Brittany questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Santana turned back around as Brittany shook her head.

"Don't play dumb with me, Santana because that's one game I always win at. Who did that to you?" Brittany became serious.

"No one did this to me…I…I fell." Santana simply said as she placed a cold spoon in the freezer, unable to find ice.

"Santana, someone did that to you." Brittany pointed to her face. "You'd have to be wearing Ke$ha type stilettos in order to fall on the floor and bruise your face like that. Someone hurt you."

"BRITTANY." Santana spoke in a harsh tone, which made Brittany relent for a moment. Santana realized her error and sent her an apologetic glance. "Brittany, nothing's going on…okay? I promise. Now, I don't want to talk about it. I'm tired." Santana walked towards the freezer and grabbed the spoon before leaving the kitchen. Brittany turned back around, staring over at Santana with her arms crossed. Brittany was sure something was going on…and she was going to get to the bottom of it—with some help of course.

* * *

"Tina, you're being ridiculous." Blaine followed behind Tina as they walked to the choir room for Glee Club practice.

"I am not being ridiculous. We need someone for Nationals." Tina huffed, going into the classroom. She noticed that everyone was sitting around while staring at Tina and Blaine before turning their heads back to their studies. Tina walked to her seat and sat down but she received a look from Kitty when she decided to take a seat. "Can I help you?"

"Actually yes you can." Kitty got up from her seat while looking over at Tina. "Tina, we all had a discussion as a Glee Club and we decided that we don't want you here…until you successfully bring back Brittany to the club." Tina looked to Blaine as he shook his head. "Don't look at him like that. Burt Reynolds wasn't in the conversation."

"You can't kick me out of Glee Club! I was one of the original members!" Tina got up from her seat, looking down at Artie. "Artie, say something." Artie twiddled his thumbs then looked up at Tina.

"Well Tina, speaking from a perspective standpoint, I'm going to have to say that I agree with Kitty and the others. I mean, it was because of you that we lost Brittany, who also was one of the original members of the club. She's been here since Quinn and Santana joined the club. You would have to successfully bring Brittany back to the club again in order for you to be reinstated." Kitty walked over to Artie, staring up at Tina.

"Hit the road, jack." Kitty pointed towards the door. Tina became furious as she grabbed her backpack and started heading towards the door.

"Fine! I'll leave Glee Club, but you're not going to have the star power in order to win." Tina then headed out the door as the others stared over at Kitty.

"All right, new order of business…we have to find someone to replace Brittany _and _Tina." Kitty stroke her chin thoughtfully.

"I have an idea on who could replace Tina." Blaine raised his hand, heading out the class to do recruiting. Ten minutes later, Jacob Israel and Stoner Brett were sitting in the Glee room, looking over at Blaine.

"I don't know if this is a good idea, Blaine." Marley became hesitant.

"Jacob Israel looks like he has a foot fetish…and is that a tattoo of Mark Sanchez in a bikini?" Kitty looked closer at Jacob Israel before he stammered, surprised that Kitty was even acknowledging him.

"Um, it's fake…but it could be real if you want it to be." Jacob Israel attempted to flirt with Kitty.

"And I don't know about you but it smells like Stoner Brett hasn't showered in weeks." Joe covered his nose as Sugar used multiple bills as a fan to reroute the smell.

"Righteous." Stoner Brett gave a smile, not processing what Joe was talking about.

"This is going to have to do until Tina brings Brittany back to Glee Club." Blaine sighed. "I do suggest that Stoner Brett and Jacob Israel stand in the back while the rest of us do our thing."

"Well then, let's get started…" Jake got out of his chair. Everyone agreed—but when Jacob Israel got up, he knocked into Stoner Brett, who knocked over all of the chairs to the front of the choir room. Everyone looked up at Jacob Israel and Stoner Brett, Kitty and Marley slapping their palms to their respective faces.

"Well…this is a great success so far." Ryder sarcastically told Blaine.

"No it isn't." Sugar spoke up, oblivious to Ryder's sarcasm. Ryder shook his head while letting out an exasperated sigh. This was going to turn out swell…

* * *

As Finn made his way towards the auditorium, he couldn't help but notice Rachel standing there wearing a black leather jacket, leather pants, knee high boots, her ombre hair in curls and her makeup visible as if she was a rock star. Rachel and Finn eyed one another as Finn became confused. Didn't Rachel have a rehearsal with…Jesse to get to?

"Rachel, I thought you had a rehearsal. What are you doing here?" Finn asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I came here to talk to you…because I noticed that ever since I told you about me and Jesse rehearsing for the musical, you've been on edge." Rachel opened the door to the auditorium leading Finn inside. "I was able to hold off your _Les Mis_ cast members, so we could talk. Apparently they think the way I'm dressing is sexy."

"Um…Rachel, not that I don't think that this is…cute but I have to direct." Finn sighed.

"And there you go again." Rachel sounded exasperated. "You're trying to bury yourself into work again. You do that every time something bothers you."

"What are you talking about? No I don't." Finn disagreed.

"Yes you do, Finn." Rachel nodded her head, placing a hand on his arm. "Do you want to tell me something? Maybe something along the lines of that you're uncomfortable that I'm spending time with Jesse? You're worried because you think I'll fall for him again when I'm clearly serious about you." Finn couldn't hide his emotions any longer as he let out a heavy sigh.

"Man, that was the hardest thing I didn't say." Finn felt relieved. "It's just that…he's on Broadway, Rachel…and I'm your klutzy, clueless, crazy…"

"Finn." Rachel finished Finn's statement. "You're my Finn. And I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world. No matter how klutzy, clueless or crazy you are. We're in this together." Rachel assured him. Finn looked to Rachel then sighed. "Do you mind if I ask what made you think I'd leave you, especially when you were so understanding when I was freaking out?"

"Because I went to go pick you up from rehearsal and you were hugging Jessie." Finn admitted.

"Oh, Finn…I may hug Jesse or kiss him during a show…but _you're_ the one I go home and climb in bed with at the end of the night. You're the one I give myself to, who I pour my heart to…you know me better than anyone. I love _you_ Finn…and I'm not changing my position for anyone…or anything." Rachel assured him. Rachel then walked over to the stage, leading Finn into one of the seats. "I didn't dress like a freaking rock star just so we could talk."

"I figured that." Finn chuckled, sitting in one of the chairs. Rachel noticed the NYADA band, getting ready to play the song Rachel told them to play.

"I spent all night on my laptop, trying to find the perfect song to tell you how I felt, in case my words didn't work. I think this song expresses everything I wanted to tell you." Finn leaned forward in his chair while Rachel started singing, Finn becoming mesmerized by how beautiful and confident she was. Rachel winked towards Finn, then started dancing around the stage and even surprised Finn when she flipped the microphone like…a rock star.

Can't count the years on one hand  
That we've been together  
I need the other one to hold you close  
Make you feel, make you feel better  
It's not a walk in the park to love each other  
But when our fingers interlock  
Can't deny, can't deny you're worth it

Cause after all this time, I'm still into you

I should be over all the butterflies  
I'm into you (I'm into you)  
And baby even on our worst nights  
I'm into you (I'm into you)  
Let them wonder how we got this far  
Cause I don't really need to wonder at all  
Cause after all this time  
I'm still into you

Recount the night that I first met your mother  
And on the drive back to my house  
I told you that, I told you that  
I loved you  
You felt the weight of the world fall off your shoulders  
And to your favorite song, we sang along  
To the start of forever

And after all this time, I'm still into you

I should be over all the butterflies  
I'm into you (I'm into you)  
And baby even on our worst nights  
I'm into you (I'm into you)  
Let them wonder how we got this far  
Cause I don't really need to wonder at al  
Cause after all this time  
I'm still into you

I'm still into you

I'm still into you

After Rachel finished singing, Finn got up from his seat and started clapping, the smile evident on his face.

"That…that was amazing Rachel." Finn smiled as she came down from the stage. Finn knew that Rachel still had something else she wanted to say as she kept a smile on her face.

"I actually have a surprise for you…" Rachel walked over to her backpack and took out an envelope with a smile. "I spoke with some of the soldiers that were there when your father was stationed. The reason that they denied your father's discharge the first time was because you only had one person to vouch for you…the other soldiers had proof your father was a good man. The day he saved some of those kids from almost getting killed…one of the soldiers videotaped it and they sent it in to the Army…anyway, open it." Finn took the letter from Rachel, opening it and reading what was inside. There was a letter with a gold sticker…saying his father was granted a semi-honorable discharge. Finn's smile faltered as he read the letter, his eyes swelling up with tears. Finn looked up to Rachel with tears in his eyes, releasing a smile to her.

"You…you did this for me?" Finn's voice broke as he spoke. He looked to Rachel who simply nodded her head.

"I know it was eating at you for the last couple of weeks…I wanted to do something nice for you…and I knew that this meant so much to you." Finn pulled Rachel into a tight hug, still looking at the letter in his hands. After a moment he put his forehead to hers, giving her a grin.

"I love you…so much." Finn gave her a bigger smile, still staring at the letter that was in his hand. "But now I feel so guilty."

"What? Why do you feel guilty?" Rachel wondered.

"Because I was being an ass for no reason." Finn sighed. "I thought that you were going to fall for Jesse…but I have to have more faith in you. That's how trust works. And that's the only way this relationship is going to survive. I'm sorry that I was being stubborn and jealous, Rachel." Rachel placed a kiss on Finn's lips, then smiled up to him.

"You don't have to apologize. In a way, being jealous is really adorable because it shows how much you love me." Rachel said. Finn pressed a kiss on Rachel's lips, until Rachel's phone went off. Rachel looked at her phone realizing that she was almost late for her rehearsal. "Oh, I have to go. We have to run lines and I have to get there before the director's daughter tries to steal my part."

"She's that crazy over playing Fanny Brice?" Finn raised an eyebrow.

"That's what I thought. She's insane. Are you going to be okay?" Rachel wondered.

"I'm fine. Besides, everything is looking great for Opening Night." Finn smiled. "Go and show them why you're amazing." Rachel kissed Finn once more, slowly getting out of his grasp.

"I love you." Rachel said while she got her bag.

"I love you too." Finn smiled, watching Rachel leave, smirking as he called out, "By the way, leather pants are so sexy." Rachel blushed at Finn's comment, then left the room leaving Finn standing there. Finn kept his hands in his pockets before turning to his backpack to get the script for _Les Miserables_. Thanks to Rachel, Finn only had one thing crossed off his list—but he still had to share the news with his mom when he had the chance to call her. Finn was broken out of his thoughts when he heard the auditorium door open, believing that it was one of his classmates. As Finn turned around, he noticed that the person that entered the auditorium didn't even go to school here—it was Brittany!

"Brittany? How did you get in here?" Finn tried to fathom how Brittany out of all people got past security.

"I walked in. No one stopped me. Santana says it's easy to walk into the school." Brittany walked down towards the stage where Finn was standing before becoming serious. "But there's something that I wanted to talk to you about."

"What? What's wrong?" Finn sat down on the stage as Brittany took a seat in the seat in front of him.

"Something happened to Santana…" Brittany felt her throat swell up as she tried to keep her tears away. Finn suddenly got off the stage and walked over to Brittany.

"What happened to Santana, Brittany?" Finn looked into Brittany's eyes as Brittany started crying. "Brittany, you have to talk to me here…"

"Santana came home late last night with a bruise on her cheek…" Brittany eyed Finn. "Finn, I think Brody hit her." Finn's face turned still, listening to what Brittany said, and when he processed everything she said, Finn got up from his position with his fists clenched, heading out the auditorium door, with Brittany looking back out at him. Finn marched to the dance room where he spotted Brody in the room by himself—and when Brody turned to look at Finn, he knew what Finn was doing there. By the look on Finn's face, Brody knew that he was in serious, serious trouble and that Finn wasn't going to show him any mercy.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Cups (When I'm Gone) by Anna Kendrick [From Pitch Perfect] (Sung by Brittany Pierce, Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson), Still Into You by Paramore (Sung by Rachel Berry)_


	45. Finchel: Just Give Me A Reason

**_A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Santana found out that Brody was planning on having his friends use her, so she got out of her job-but not before Brody slapped her across the face, causing Finn and Brittany to worry about her. Speaking of Finn, Finn was worried that Rachel was going to fall for Jesse, and Rachel assured him that she wouldn't. New Directions are now looking for two member since they kicked out Tina-and they're not practicing for Nationals which could hurt their chances. Also Kurt was in a Robin costume. Pretty cool. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. But I wish I did. Here's the next chapter! :)**

* * *

Santana sat on the sofa that afternoon, staring at the television as she couldn't help but feel bad for herself. She had never in her life been hit by a guy. Sure, she had gotten into fights with girls before, but this—this was different. For one thing, Brody was bigger than her. Another thing, Brody was muscular and last of all—Brody knew how to pack a slap for a 'pretty boy'. Santana continued to stare at the television, seeing the door open as Brittany entered the apartment. Santana looked to Brittany, then back at the television, trying to avoid Brittany's glance. Brittany sat down next to Santana and leaned her head on Santana's shoulder. Santana looked to Brittany, seeing that Brittany let out a small smile.

"Brittany, I'm not really in the mood to cuddle right now." Santana moodily said.

"Santana…I know that Brody was the one that hurt you." Brittany disclosed. Santana turned to Brittany, raising her eyebrow.

"What makes you so sure about that?" Santana wondered.

"Because Finn got it out of him." Brittany purely shrugged her shoulders.

* * *

"_Tell me everything I need to know!" Finn held Brody by his shirt against the wall, the other dancers staring at Brody._

"_I'm not telling you jack, crap!" Brody yelled back at Finn, letting out a smirk. _

"_I know that you gave Santana a bruise! I know it!" Finn continued to yell towards Brody. "What is wrong with you?! First you kiss Rachel, then you and Cassandra hit me with her car, and then you hit Santana?! Stop messing with us!"_

"_Santana's a girl! She's supposed to be submissive." Brody let out a hollow chuckle._

"_Submissive? Submissive?! No girl is supposed to be submissive!" Finn continued to glare over at Brody, shaking his head. "Now, I'm going to tell you once and once only…stay away from us or else I will beat your ass and make sure that you won't be able to come to dance class when I'm done with you." Brody pushed Finn off him, causing Finn to hit the floor. Brody took the opportunity to stand over Finn, who was lying helplessly on the ground._

"_Who's gonna beat who's ass now?" Brody held his fist crumpled up, about to strike Finn until…_

"_Stop!" Finn and Brody looked up to see Brittany entering the dance room. "I'll stop you and do you know why…because I'm a unicorn."_

"_A unicorn. Aw, how cute." Brody sardonically spoke, then stared at Finn._

"_Don't you dare hit Finn or diss unicorns, because that's bullying and I won't tolerate it." Brittany said serenely. _

"_Finn, what the hell is she doing here? She doesn't even go to school—" Brody didn't finish his sentence as Finn found that the perfect opportunity to trip Brody from the ground. Finn got up from the floor, staring at Brody._

"_I mean it Brody…stay away from Santana." Finn started to head towards the door with Brittany following him. As soon as they left the room, Finn looked to Brittany. "All right, I have to go and direct the play. You go back to the loft but you can't tell Santana anything." _

"_Why not?" Brittany looked innocently towards Finn._

"_Because then Santana will beat the crap out of me and there's no way in hell Rachel can protect me when Santana's angry." Finn shuddered at the thought._

"_Don't worry. I won't tell her." Brittany let out a smile, heading towards the building. _

* * *

"Wait, Finn told you not to tell me what was going on?" Santana wondered.

"He's afraid you'll hurt him…" Brittany simply said. Santana thought it over for a moment then shook her head.

"I'm not going to hurt Finn." Santana said.

"You're not?" Brittany saw Santana getting more comfortable on the couch. Santana considered whether or not to say anything else.

"Well, I'm not going to hurt him…as a matter of fact, I'm actually glad that he did what he did." Santana shrugged her shoulders, then looked to Brittany. "I'm sorry that I've been stingy lately. It's not your fault Brittany, it's not. I think the only reason that I took the job was because I was trying to hide my heartache from when you were dating Sam. I felt like you didn't love me anymore…and I know it was a bad way to think but…that's how I felt." Brittany heard Santana's voice break a bit as she began to tear up. "I knew taking the job was wrong. And…if I could redo everything all over again, I would. I'm quitting my job because I realized that Brody just wanted to make sure I was sexy so his friends could sex me up. I'm so ashamed of myself…" Brittany put a comforting arm around Santana's shoulder, holding her while she was crying.

"It's okay Santana…I know it was hard…I guess I was only dating Sam because I was hiding my own heartache…I thought you didn't want to be with me anymore." Brittany's eyes watered, staring over at Santana. "I missed you…and I don't ever want to see you lower yourself because of your self-confidence…you got me? You're better than what Brody thinks, Santana…you just need a wake-up call." Santana wiped her eyes, staring over at Brittany.

"But what can I do Brittany? I'm not good enough at anything…" Santana sighed.

"You're good at something. You're a great dancer." Brittany thought aloud.

"I'm not as good as you or Puck's brother." Santana admitted.

"But you are good. Maybe you should take some ballet classes or something. I mean, I want to see you succeed Santana. Being a phone sex operator isn't succeeding. It's lowering yourself. You're so much better than that." Brittany smiled.

"You really think so Brittany?" Santana gave Brittany a small grin as Brittany nodded her head.

"I am sure of it." Brittany assured her. Santana pulled Brittany in for a hug as Santana let out a blissful sigh.

"You really are a genius, Brittany." Santana beamed down at Brittany.

"I know." Brittany wrapped her arms tighter around Santana as they sat there for a long moment. After a moment, Brittany looked to Santana and got up from the sofa. "Come on, let's put on some foundation to cover the bruise. Kurt and Rachel could get suspicious." Santana saw Brittany's hand being held out for her to take and Santana didn't hesitate. Santana and Brittany headed towards the room, feeling happy for the first time in a long time.

* * *

Marley sat in the Glee choir room that day with a notepad and her felt tip pen, trying to think of words to write on the paper. Whenever she had time to think to herself, she would start jotting down words and the next thing she knew, the words would turn into a song. Marley had been writing songs ever since she was a little girl, since her dream was to be a popular singer on the radio. She wanted to be just like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato. They were all successful in their own way and Marley had pictures of them in her room to give her inspiration whenever she needed it. Marley was so into her thoughts that she didn't notice Blaine entering the room, staring over at her.

"Marley? What are you doing here? You were missing from lunch and Jake was looking for you." Blaine walked over and sat down next to her. Marley looked to Blaine with a small smile.

"Sorry, I was just writing some words." Marley said. "I mean, I was writing a new song."

"You write songs?" Blaine wondered, looking at the notepad.

"Ever since I was little I would write songs." Marley continued to stare at her notepad with the words. "Maybe if I write a good enough song, then we could use it in Nationals…you know…when we get two better members than Jacob Israel and Stoner Brett."

"Oh come on, Marley. Jacob and Stoner Brett aren't that bad." Blaine waved his hand dismissively.

"Jacob Israel tried to cut Kitty's ponytail in Glee Club yesterday because he wanted her hair." Marley pointed out. "And I could have swore that Artie and Ryder had the munchies after eating brownies Stoner Brett made. They're not New Directions material."

"All right, so they are pretty bad." Blaine sighed. "So what do we do?"

"It's simple…we're going to have to let Tina come back to Glee Club." Marley got up from her chair. "We're so close to New York and Nationals…I would hate for us to lose because we're more focused on trying to bring members back."

"You're right. We have to get Tina back and then we have to go and talk to Brittany." Blaine sighed. "I'll go to New York and talk to Brittany."

"Are you sure you don't mind traveling all the way to New York in order to get Brittany?" Marley asked.

"I don't mind at all." Blaine smiled. "Besides, there's something I have to do when I'm in New York."

"What's that?" Marley wondered.

"My audition for NYADA…it's on Friday, so I have to be prepared." Blaine let out a shaky sigh as Marley put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're going to be fine. I promise. And I also know that this has to do with Kurt as well." Blaine knew that Marley could read him like a book as he sighed.

"I want us both to get into NYADA so bad…I really do." Blaine revealed, closing his eyes.

"And you will get in. You both will get in." Marley assured him. Blaine looked at the sophomore, feeling more confident as he let out a grin.

"Thanks Marley." Blaine nodded his head as he headed out of the classroom. "Oh, Marley?" Marley looked up to see Blaine at the door with a nod. "Here's to us, right?" Marley nodded her head quickly as Blaine headed down the hall. Marley looked to her notebook for a moment then flipped it open to a clean sheet of paper. She wrote the words 'Here's To Us' on her sheet of paper, then with a smirk, scratched out the word 'to' and replaced it with the number '2'.

"Here's 2 Us." Marley whispered softly. That was when she had her inspiration. She had the words to her song.

* * *

Finn entered the apartment late that night, closing the large door behind him to find Kurt, Brittany and Santana sitting in front of the television, watching a reality T.V. show. Finn rolled his eyes at the thought that they were going to pollute their brains with garbage as he went to put his jacket on the hook. When he came back to the living room, he sat down next to them, knowing that there was one other person that was missing.

"Hey, where's Rachel?" Finn wondered.

"In her room sleeping." Kurt spoke in a monotone voice. "She said she wasn't feeling too well."

"Really? She was fine when I saw her earlier." Finn raised his eyebrow.

"She said she thought she had food poisoning." Santana answered staring at Finn. "She and the rest of the _Funny Girl_ cast went to go and eat at McDonalds but she decided to try a new restaurant named McDoogle."

"Does McDoogle even exist?" Finn wondered.

"I'm not sure…but that's where Rachel said she went to eat. Anyway, afterwards she came home and said her stomach was bothering her, so she went straight to bed." Santana answered. Finn got up from the sofa and started to head towards their room in order to check on Rachel. "Hey…Finn…" Finn turned back to Santana to see that she gave him a small smile, meaning that she knew what he did for her today. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Finn nodded his head, then headed over to his room. When he opened the door, he saw Rachel lying in bed while watching television. Rachel didn't look sick to him…she probably had made it up in order to spend some time by herself. "Hey Rach…" Rachel looked over at Finn then nodded her head. Finn entered the room, then closed the door behind him, walking over to the bed to sit on the edge. "Everything went okay with rehearsal?" Rachel stared over at Finn shrugging her shoulders.

"I guess…" Rachel mumbled. Finn looked into Rachel's eyes, giving her a concerned look.

"Rachel, what happened…something had to have went wrong if you're so sad." Finn ran a hand through Rachel's hair as she looked up at Finn. Before Rachel had a chance to answer, they heard a knock on the door…and it was apparent that neither Brittany, Santana or Kurt would get the door. "All right, let's get the door…but we're going to talk about this later, okay?" Rachel got off the bed with Finn following her. As they reached the door, Rachel opened it to see Quinn standing there with a smile. "Quinn?!" Finn seemed almost surprised. But when Kurt, Brittany and Santana knew who it was, they got up from the sofa and walked over to see their friend.

"Quinn, what are you doing here?" Kurt sounded almost surprised.

"I'm here because I needed to ask for advice." Quinn revealed. Finn let Quinn enter the room as she took a seat on the sofa in the living room. Rachel walked over to one of the seats, sitting down beside her.

"What's wrong?" Rachel wondered, as Finn looked over to Rachel with a suspicious look.

"Well…Puck and I started a long distance relationship after Regionals and everything was going great." Quinn started to say, fumbling with her hands. "But one day…he just stopped calling…he stopped sending me emails…he stopped doing a lot of things…I tried calling him back but he wouldn't answer the phone. "

"So what do you think's going on with Puck?" Santana wondered.

"I'm not sure." Quinn revealed, becoming more uneasy. "He had been acting odd after Regionals, but I figured that maybe my love for him could fix things. I mean…there has to be a reason that he's not answering his calls."

"Well, trust me…I doubt that Puck is avoiding you." Kurt spoke with reassurance. "Puck's probably just thinking everything in his life through."

"Like what?" Quinn asked.

"Well, maybe he's trying to decide whether or not he's going to college. That could be one thing…" Kurt tried to think of different scenarios.

"I just need to think things through right now…I mean…maybe getting into a relationship with Puck was a mistake…" Quinn sighed. Finn looked towards the television then did a double take.

"Guys! Look on the television!" Finn pointed towards the screen. Quinn looked up and noticed that it was a commercial for the returning reality show "_The Bachelor_." The only problem—Puck was the bachelor!

"What is Puck doing on the Bachelor?" Quinn sounded almost hurt, still staring at the television.

"I don't know but I have to watch that. I need to see the loser Puckerman chooses." Santana eyed the television with interest. Finn and Kurt shot a glance at Santana, causing her to feebly chuckle and eye Quinn. "Sorry."

"I don't get it…what made him want to do that?" Quinn sounded heartbroken.

"Money?" Santana shrugged her shoulders. "Or…he could be trying to find love somewhere…" Quinn got up from the sofa, running a hand through her hair.

"I thought Puck cared about me." Quinn felt the tears fall from her cheek as Rachel rubbed Quinn's back.

"I'm sure he does, Quinn." Rachel assured her.

"So why is he doing this?" Quinn sounded angry, trying to figure out why Puck was doing what he did.

"Because he probably is trying to find himself, Quinn…it's not easy seeing all your friends succeed and you're stuck in limbo." Rachel answered.

"But with reality T.V?" Quinn became more frustrated.

"Sometimes we don't know the reasoning Quinn…maybe the best thing to do is to give him some space." Rachel placed a hand on Quinn's shoulder; Quinn slowly nodded her head, looking down at the ground while a sad smile appeared on her face.

"It's just funny…I thought that he actually cared about me…especially after what happened in Lima during Regionals. I thought we grew closer…well…I guess all of that meant nothing to Puck." Everyone eyed Quinn sadly as they struggled with trying to find a way to make her feel better. The problem was there was nothing they could say to help her.

* * *

Rachel sat in her bedroom, looking through some notes for an upcoming final as Finn entered the room. Santana, Kurt and Brittany agreed to keep Quinn busy, so they went out for a night on the town while Rachel and Finn had the whole house to themselves. The only problem was Rachel was burying herself into her schoolwork. That had to mean something was bothering her. Finn closed the door to the room, watching Rachel study her book.

"Rachel?" Finn softly spoke. Rachel looked up at Finn, then looked down. "Rachel, do you mind if we talk for a moment?"

"Can't right now, I'm studying." Rachel replied, looking back down at her notes.

"Rachel, please…I want to talk to you." Finn sat down on the bed staring over at her. Rachel relented, then put the book to the side while staring at her fiancé with interest.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Finn took a deep breath before continuing.

"Something's obviously bothering you and all I want to know is what is it? Ever since you came home, you've been really mopey…as if someone took something away from you or something. Come on, I just want to help."

"You want to help? Well you could talk to the director of _Funny Girl_ for me." Rachel snapped. Finn didn't say anything since he knew Rachel was going to keep talking. "Rehearsal was terrible today and do you know why?"

* * *

"_I still think that we have to modernize _Funny Girl_ daddy." Margaret walked along with Marie, following her father (and the director) to the stage._

"_And how could we modernize the Broadway play?" The director stared over at his daughter. Rachel looked up from her lines to see the three of them talking. Rachel leaned in closer, trying to see what it could possibly be. _

"_Actually yes. We want more males to come to see the show, right?" Margaret looked to Marie who nodded her head. "So why don't we add something from the 21__st__ century into the show."_

"_You want us to add sports?" The director eyed her quizzically._

"_No." Margaret shook her head. "We could write in another scene…where Fanny bares all from her neck to her waist…"_

* * *

"They want me to do a topless scene." Rachel blurted out. Finn continued to stare at Rachel as she let out a sigh.

"Rachel, they can't make you do that…can they?" Finn speculated.

"If I say no then…the director will fire me…and then Margaret will become Fanny Brice…I think this was just her way to get rid of me." Rachel revealed.

"But…Rachel, you can't degrade yourself for a role. I mean sure…many actors had to show something to be big…but you can do it without that. Have you tried talking to the director?" Finn asked.

"I tried, but he said he made up his mind…he wants me to do it and he's writing it in after Fanny and Nick's wedding…" Rachel ran a hand through her hair, looking more lost than before.

"But that's not right." Finn shook his head.

"What am I supposed to do, Finn? If I say no, Margaret wins. If I say yes, I'm embarrassed by the entire theatre community and I'll risk never being in another Broadway show ever again." Rachel got up from the bed and looked into the mirror. "I've never felt so lost before in my life. I don't know what I'm going to do…"

"Rachel, I know being Fanny Brice means a lot to you…but there's no way that you can risk going out there, and becoming the laughing stock of the theatre community. This might be one time where you'd have to back down from the role and find something that's more in your comfort zone." Finn got up from the bed to walk over to Rachel. "I don't want you to lose everything because you make one mistake." Rachel eyed Finn, then let out a sigh.

"But everyone is counting on me. Opening Night is in two weeks and there's no way that I can back out now. Plus Margaret doesn't have what it takes to portray Fanny and I'll be blackballed from the theatre community if I quit."

"The Rachel I know would never consider partial nudity just for a role. When we were in high school, you always told me you'd never consider it because you had your pride. Are you willing to lose your pride so easily?" Finn was becoming a little frustrated.

"Finn, we're in college…not in high school anymore. I'm going to have to do this." Rachel decided.

"God, why are you so stubborn?!" Finn yelled.

"Me? Stubborn?!" Rachel pointed at herself.

"Yes! You're being so hard headed right now that it's not even funny!" Finn let out an exasperated sigh. "Doesn't it bother you one bit that everyone's going to see your…'girl's' on stage every night?! That you're basically going to be showing yourself to the world in order to do whatever it took to get famous! That's like being like the pregnant Kardashian or the Teen Mom that made a sex tape! They have no pride and did whatever to be in the spotlight…you're going to end up just like them?"

"That's different Finn, they made sex tapes. I'm doing this for a role." Rachel argued.

"There's nothing different about it! They degraded themselves and right now so are you! Do you want to go out there and have everyone think you're a whore because if everyone else thinks that, I wouldn't know what to think!" Finn yelled. Rachel's face softened, looking Finn in the eyes as she shook her head. Finn realized what he said and noticed Rachel backing away from him.

"So that's what you think I am?" Rachel felt the tears fall down from her face. "Is that what you think I am because of one decision I make? You would actually think I'm a whore, Finn?" Finn felt like slapping himself after seeing that he made Rachel cry.

"Rachel…that's not what I meant…I'm sorry…" Finn stuttered for a moment, but Rachel simply walked past him. "Rachel…" With that, the door slammed. Finn looked over at the door and looked completely stuck. He was trying to make her feel better…instead he insulted her and caused her to storm out of the room. Finn shook his head, then sat down on the bed. It took Finn a while, but he ended up falling asleep, and he didn't notice Rachel entering the room with her suitcase. Rachel stuffed a couple of items into her bag, took off her engagement ring and placed it on the dresser. Rachel headed out the door and closed it behind her, leaving the loft for what seemed like the last time.

* * *

_SMACK!_

Finn abruptly awoke, rubbing his right cheek as he stared over at Santana, who was standing over him in anger. Finn didn't know whether he was in shock or whether he was angry. He continued to stare at Santana who crossed her arms angrily.

"Frankenteen, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Santana yelled. Finn continued to stare at Santana, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"Do you mind explaining?" Finn questioned.

"I came in to ask Rachel a question but instead, I saw this…on the dresser." Santana showed the engagement ring, which caused Finn to sit upright.

"What? Wh…where did you get that?" Finn got up from the bed, staring at the engagement ring.

"Rachel probably took it off and left it here…and her stuff is gone…what did you say to her and if you don't tell me what you said to her, then I will go Lima Heights on you! No me mientas Finn Hudson, me dice lo que le dijo a Rachel o no vivirás para ver su próximo cumpleaños! Como cuestión de hecho, vas a vivir en las alcantarillas y yo espero que las Tortugas Ninja comen vivo! Son mortales, ¿sabes?" Once Santana started talking in Spanish, that was when Finn knew he had to explain what went wrong.

"Rachel was considering doing a topless role! Please stop speaking in Spanish." Finn begged. "I just told her she shouldn't do it…and I might have insulted her."

"What did you say to her? Because I don't tolerate bullying." Santana shook her head.

"You used to bully Rachel all the time." Finn pointed out.

"Speak now pigeon toes! What did you say to Rachel before I throw you out the window!" Santana screamed.

"All right, I kind of said that everyone would think she was a whore if she had done the topless scene." Finn cringed.

"Great job Finn." Santana sarcastically said. "First you call Kurt a fag and now Rachel a whore. Are you going to call me a slut now?" That was when Finn realized that he wasn't the smartest tool in the shed. Man, he needed to take some sympathy courses. Santana wasn't done with him, as she snapped her fingers in front of him to get his attention. "She was going to do a topless scene and that makes her a skank? You know how many people have done topless scenes? I'm pretty sure the A-Listers have done topless scenes. But yet when you guys go to the movie theaters and see those scenes, you look all googlily eyed like you never seen a pair of boobs before, and then struggle to keep your friend in your pants. What you did to Rachel made you sound like a hypocrite."

"How?" Finn shook his head.

"So if Angelina Jolie or J-Lo did a topless scene would you go googlily eyed like the 12-year old boy you are? Of course you would, because you're a boy. Yet Rachel was considering it and all of a sudden, it's a whorish move. Guess what Finn; girls don't like being told that. I made a sex tape with Brittany in High School and I still struggle every day. People who have seen it, recognize me at the supermarket and they tell me that I have no brain, tell me sarcastically that my dad must be so proud…that if I would be willing to sell myself and consider being a prostitute. Words like that for a woman hurts, Finn. I'm not saying that Rachel is making the right choice and frankly I think she shouldn't do it, but you need to rewind for a moment and think back what you could have said better to her." Santana handed Finn the ring and started to head towards the door. "If I were you, I would go out that door and give her a reason…just give her one reason for her to stay with you—and for her to never regret it. While you do that, I'm going to go to the living room. Puck on _The Bachelor_ begins in 5 minutes and Kurt, Brittany and I are planning on throwing popcorn at the television every time he comes on to make Quinn feel better." Santana closed the door as Finn considered Santana's words. Santana was right—and Finn didn't admit to that often. He had to go and find Rachel…give her a reason for her to stay with him…because Finn knew he was being a jerk…and he had to fix things sooner or later.

_[Rachel]  
Right from the start  
You were a thief you stole my heart  
And I, your willing victim  
I let you see the parts of me  
That weren't all that pretty  
With every touch you'd fix them_

_Now you've been talking in your sleep (uh-oh)  
Things you never say to me (uh-oh)  
Tell me that you've had enough  
Of our love  
Our love_

_Just give me a reason  
Just a little bit's enough  
Just a second we're not broken just bent  
And we can learn to love again  
It's in the stars  
It's been written in the scars of our hearts  
We're not broken just bent  
And we can learn to love again_

_[Finn]  
I'm sorry I don't understand  
Where all of this is coming from  
I thought that we were fine (Rachel: Oh, we had everything)  
Your head running is wild again  
My dear we still have everything  
And it's all in your mind (Rachel: Yeah, this is happening)_

_You've been having real bad dreams (Uh-oh)  
You used to lie so close to me (Uh-oh)_

_[Finn and Rachel]  
There's nothing more than empty sheets  
Between our love  
Our love  
Our love, our love_

_Just give me a reason  
Just a little bit's enough  
Just a second we're not broken just bent  
And we can learn to love again_

_[Finn]  
I never stopped  
You're still written in the scars of my heart_

_[Rachel and Finn]  
You're not broken just bent  
And we can learn to learn to love_

_[Rachel]  
Oh tear ducts and rust_

_[Finn]  
I'll fix it for us_

_[Rachel]  
We're collecting dust  
But our love is enough_

_[Finn]  
You're holding it in_

_[Rachel]  
You're pouring a drink_

_[Finn]  
No nothing is as bad as it seems_

_[Rachel]  
We'll come clean_

_[Rachel and Finn]  
Just give me a reason  
Just a little bit's enough  
Just a second we're not broken just bent  
And we can learn to love again  
It's in the stars  
It's been written in the scars of our heart  
We're not broken just bent  
And we can learn to love again_

_Just give me a reason  
Just a little bit's enough  
Just a second we're not broken just bent  
And we can learn to love again  
It's in the stars  
It's been written in the scars of our heart  
We're not broken just bent  
And we can learn to love again_

_[Rachel]  
Can learn to love again  
Oh, can learn to love again  
We're not broken just bent  
And we can learn to love again._

* * *

Rachel walked up to one of the apartments with her small suitcase, taking a deep breath as she knocked on the door. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but this was the only person Rachel could stay with while she got her space from Finn. A moment later, the door opened and it revealed none other than Jesse, leaning against the doorway. He had to say he was a bit surprised to see Rachel standing there, but when he saw the suitcases, he looked back at Rachel to see her eyes forming with tears.

"Hi…um…I need a place to stay for a little bit while I get my distance from Finn. Do you mind if I stay here?" Rachel looked to Jesse who simply gave Rachel a smile. To Rachel, the smile seemed warm…but in the back of Jesse's mind, the smile quickly turned into a smirk as she walked past him. _Rachel and Finn are having problems?_ Jesse thought to himself. _This should be fun…_

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Just Give Me A Reason by P!nk and Nate Ruess (Sung by Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson)_


	46. Brittana & Finchel: You Make Me Feel

**_A/N: So here's what you missed on, Glee. Brittany gives Santana a pep-talk after Santana reveals that she's quitting her job and wonders whether or not she should get back together with Brittany. Quinn decided to come and visit because she was worried about Puck, only to find out he was a Bachelor on a reality T.V. show. Blaine reveals that he's nervous about his audition and seeing Kurt since his last visit in New York didn't go so well, but Marley tells him he'll be fine. It also gives Marley inspiration to write a song for Glee Club. Finn gets into a heated argument with Rachel over whether to do a topless scene and accidentally offends her, causing her to leave her engagement ring while he slept. Wow, a lot of drama. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did. We're getting a little closer to the end of the story, which is a little sad since soon it's Nationals, Graduation and everyone saying goodbye but there's still couples to write about, auditions to write about and of course, Nationals. Also, just wondering...does Cassandra and Brittany's conversation remind you a little bit of someone else's in Glee's? Just wondering. :) Enough of me blabbering. Here's the new chapter!**

* * *

"So what exactly went on between you and Frankenteen that you ran all the way to my apartment?" Jesse and Rachel were sitting in Jesse's living room, sipping on a cup of tea as Rachel told her story to him. After listening intently, Jesse put the teacup down and saw that Rachel was still fiddling with her teacup. "You know Rachel, if I know Finn he wouldn't say things like that to you…on purpose at least." Rachel sent him a glare as Jesse cleared his throat to continue speaking. "The thing is that you need to talk to him."

"You want me to talk to Finn?" Rachel sounded a bit surprised, then seemed uncertain. "I don't know Jesse. I mean, if I could admit it, I'm madder at the fact that I have to do a topless scene."

"A topless scene?" Jesse seemed surprised.

"Yep, so the entire audience could see my bosoms and according to the director it could be a great move. I'm thinking of quitting _Funny Girl_."

"Wait, why would you consider quitting?" Jesse asked.

"Because as much as I love being on Broadway, I love Finn more." Rachel revealed. "Finn means the world to me and I don't want to lose him because of a scene. Oh I was so stupid earlier. And to make matters worse, I left my engagement ring on the table so now Finn probably now thinks that I'd never take him back. I messed up Jesse. I need to fix things between us." After realizing that her sentence sounded a bit off, she stuttered and shook her head. "I meant…Finn and I…you know what I meant."

"I know…well, you could talk to him at school tomorrow. As for _Funny Girl,_ you're not quitting." Jesse said.

"What? Why aren't I quitting _Funny Girl_?" Rachel wondered. Jesse got up from the sofa and looked Rachel in the eye.

"Because I am going to get that topless scene written out for you…I know that it would mean a lot to you to be Fanny and we're not letting Margaret get what she wants. You are Fanny, Rachel…and nothing is going to change that." Rachel felt empowered as she stood up from the sofa.

"You're right. I am going to be Fanny Brice and there is nothing anyone can say about it!" Rachel then looked to Jesse, giving him a small smile. "Thanks Jesse."

"You're welcome…" Jesse beamed. Rachel cleared her throat as she took the cup of tea from the table, then went over to the kitchen.

"I'll go and wash these for you." Rachel offered. Jesse continued to stare over at Rachel, still thinking of how guilty he was for letting her go. He had her once when she was a sophomore in the Glee Club, but now she was an independent woman in New York—and Finn had her heart. The least he could do was be there for Rachel…that was all he could hope for.

* * *

Rachel sat on the bench in the dance studio at NYADA the next morning, tying her dance shoes while her ombre hair fell in front of her face. As much as she loved her hair, she had to admit that it was getting in the way of her seeing what she was doing. She heard footsteps enter the dance studio and she was sure that it wasn't Cassandra or Brody. Rachel looked slowly at the doorway, taking a deep breath as she saw Finn standing in the entrance, unsure if he should come in the room. After a moment, Finn entered the area and sat on the bench next to Rachel. Rachel looked back down to her shoes, waiting for Finn to make the first move. Finn cleared his throat, staring at her.

"So…um…where did you go last night?" Finn started the conversation. Rachel looked away from Finn, not sure if she should answer the question.

"I spent the night at Jesse's apartment…don't worry…all we did was sleep and drink tea." Rachel bitterly answered. Finn knew that Rachel was still angry, so he didn't press the issue.

"Oh, that's nice." Finn simply said. He then looked back down and let out a sigh. "Rachel, you know I love you, right?" Rachel shrugged her shoulders, then looked Finn in his eyes.

"Well last night it didn't seem like you loved me. You said that if the whole world thought I was a whore for doing a topless scene then you wouldn't know what to think." Rachel gingerly answered.

"And I realized that was the wrong thing to say." Finn finished. He then let out a deep breath, staring over at Rachel. "Rachel, do you want to know what I think if the whole world thought that?"

"If you say one stupid comment, then I'm leaving." Rachel interrupted him, pointing to the door.

"I would think…that the whole world was stupid…and they were jealous because you had the opportunity to be in a Broadway show and they were just sitting in the stands with no talent." Finn answered. Rachel's face softened as Finn continued to speak. "I had _a lot_ of time to think about what I said last night and one of the things I hated was not being able to sleep next to you. You're the most classiest person that I've ever known Rachel—and I am very, very sorry that I made you cry, leave and take off your engagement ring. I can't promise that I won't say something stupid again because we all know it's bound to happen, but I can promise that I will think before I speak—because last night was the worst night of my life and I don't ever want to lose you again because of my mouth. You're my fiancée Rachel. We're Finchel. We're better than any couple you watch on television. My life's not complete without you…" Rachel continued to eye Finn then nodded her head.

"You know, last night was the worst night of my life too." Rachel said. "Even though I was extremely angry at you last night—I was afraid you were going to think I didn't love you anymore. I guess in my anger I took off the engagement ring then went out the door but when I had time to think, it was stupid. I don't want every argument to end where I threaten to leave you because of something you say. We both know that you're going to say something incredibly stupid at some point—but I was just as wrong last night for leaving you like I did. I'm sorry…and…our relationship may not be roses…but it's better than _Sex & The City._" Rachel leaned next to Finn and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Damn right our relationship is better than anything in _Sex & The City…_because we actually have sex in New York City?" Finn joked slightly, causing Rachel to laugh.

"I'm pretty sure they did as well…but of course on T.V…they show nothing." Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's lips again, then ran a hand through his hair. "I love you, Finn."

"I love you too, Rachel." Finn smiled then pressed his lips to Rachel's again. He then parted after a moment, then raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Now about that sex…?" Rachel laughed, pressing a kiss on Finn's cheek.

"After rehearsal…it's a date." Rachel promised. She then looked at her bare ring finger and looked back at Finn.

"Right, your engagement ring…" Finn went into his pocket to get the ring out. He put the ring on Rachel's finger as she pressed a kiss to his hand. She hated being mad at Finn, but when they made up it was all the more sweeter. Rachel sat on Finn's lap then saw Santana entering the room.

"Glad to see you two made up." Santana gave a genuine smile towards Finn. Finn smiled at Santana then gave her a serious look.

"Santana…thank you for what you said to me last night…you really got through to me." Santana flipped her hair with a grin.

"Well, you've done a lot for me Finn…I thought I would repay you." Rachel gave Santana an inquisitive look, wondering what Santana meant.

"What did Finn do to help you?" Rachel asked. Santana realized that Rachel didn't know that Brody had slapped her, hence was the reason why Santana was even in NYADA.

"Well…Brody slapped me and left a bruise on my face." Santana answered. Rachel continued to look at Santana then turned to Finn.

"Is this true?" Rachel wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"It's true." Finn finally said after a moment. Rachel turned to Santana then shook her head.

"Santana, you have to go to the police with this. There's no way that Brody can get away with what he did." Santana considered Rachel's words then shook her head.

"What good is that going to do? He and Cassandra hit Finn with a car and they're walking around like they own the place. The police don't care. Nope, I'm going to handle this the one way that I know how…but I'm going to need your help." Rachel stood up from the bench, giving Santana a look.

"What would I have to do?" Rachel wondered.

"Just get Brody to come here in the next five minutes. I know Cassandra the Ogre is busy trying to steal everyone's food in the teacher's lounge." Santana pointed. "Also, Brittany's in the hallway and talk to her for a moment. She wants to show you something." Rachel nodded her head and obliged with what Santana said, heading out of the room, off to find Brittany. Finn simply stared at Santana while letting out a sigh.

"Are you sure about confronting Brody, Santana?" Finn worried about his friend.

"I'm sure, Finn." Santana said. "I mean…it's gonna be hard to face him but this something that I have to do. Besides, Brittany has been good moral support and that's what I needed right now."

"Brittany, huh?" Finn smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Brittany's been here for you the whole time even though she's been taking a tour a Julliard. Santana…Brittany still loves you, and you're not going to find love like that. I'm just saying that you need to let Brittany know how you feel about her."

"You're doing this to help or is this inspired by your guilt last year when you basically shoved me out of closet?" Santana asked with a hint of a chuckle.

"I'm just trying to help." Finn put his hands up defensively while laughing. He then noticed Rachel and Brittany talking outside of the classroom, then turned to Santana. "Santana, I know that you might not understand this but…love isn't something that just goes away. At least, true love…you could read a million books where there's no happy ending for the girl and guy and you might end up not believing in love…but true love is there. Look at all the kickass Disney movies there are about love. _Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Aladdin, Mulan, Hercules, The Little Mermaid, Tangled, The Princess And The Frog_ and so many other movies all have one thing in common—the guy and the girl always find each other in the end. And it doesn't have to be a guy and a girl. It could be a guy and a guy or a girl and a girl. What I'm saying is…true love is everywhere Santana, and from what I've seen between you and Brittany…that's what you have. You have true love…and it could make an awesome Disney classic if there was one ever based off your love story." Santana listened to Finn as he spoke, then slyly smirked towards him.

"So Finn…you watch Disney movies with or without Rachel, because she doesn't like _Tangled._" Finn blushed, then refocused himself.

"_Tangled _is a great movie…and even the bandit and a princess found true love. You and Brittany are perfect together…and you will argue…but you're best friends and always there for each other. Just…be honest with her, that you want to be with her." Santana considered it for a moment then let out a smile.

"Thanks, Finn." Santana gave Finn a quick hug as Finn smiled back towards her.

"Anytime, Santana." Finn replied. Santana turned her head to see Brody entering the classroom with his hands in his pockets, staring at Santana and Finn. "And if you need me to beat the crap out of him, I could gladly do that for you."

"Nope, I got this." Santana walked over to Brody, crossing her arms and giving him a hard glare.

"Santana, why did you send the dumb blonde and Lady Schwimmer over to me in order for me to come here?" Brody sneered.

"Hey!" Finn got up from the bench and started charging Brody. "No one calls Rachel 'Lady Schwimmer'!"

"You just did." Brody snickered. Finn realized it after a moment and felt like slapping his forehead. Rachel, Brittany and a few NYADA dancers entered the room as Rachel crossed her arms.

"Leave him alone, Brody." Rachel send a glare to Brody as Brody let out a sigh.

"And why can't I pick on tubby here. I mean he's obviously the worst dancer I've ever seen…so how did he even get in here?" Brody continued to pick on Finn until Santana couldn't take it any longer. She walked over and looked Brody in the eye, shaking her head.

"All right, let's get two things straight. One, Brittany is not a 'dumb blonde.' She is a genius and you're too dumb to see it. Two, although Finn could lose a couple pounds and go on Jenny Craig, or maybe even Weight Watchers, he has more talent in his body than you do in your finger. He plays drums which is awesome, he's a good singer and he's here to study on how to be a music teacher which last time I checked, is a major here. Dance class is just a requirement."

"I don't know whether to feel offended…or glad you defended me…" Finn piped up, but Brittany just put a hand on Finn's shoulder.

"Santana's just being brutally honest." Brittany defended Santana. Finn sent a worried glance to Rachel, but Rachel shook her head, assuring him that he was fine.

"And you think you have any talent?" Brody continued to stare at Santana. "All you got working for you is a banging body."

"And that's the problem with men these days. All they want is sex. I'm pretty sure that Finn thinks about it five, six times a day." Santana looked to Brittany as Brittany let out a small smile at Santana's small joke. "Girls are so much easier these days. Especially girls like Brittany…, which I was too dumb to realize this year. Brittany was all I really needed. Not jobs that earn a lot of money but cause me problems. I'm going to get money…but I'm going to get it the right way. Not by getting used by pretty boys who have no priorities like yourself."

"You still didn't answer my question…you think you have talent?" Brody smirked.

"I _know_ I have talent…and I could easily prove it to you." Santana challenged him. Brody nodded his head, then walked over to his side of the dance studio with the NYADA male dancers. Santana led Brittany and Rachel over to the other side of the dance studio with the NYADA female dancers while Finn stood in the middle. He took one look at Brody, then walked over to Rachel, Santana and Brittany's side, showing the girls that he was with them 100% of the way. Finn kept his eyes on the girls, becoming excited that they were going to show just what they could do.

"Hey, Santana…" Finn looked to Santana as she let out a smile. "Kick his ass." Santana walked over with Brittany and Rachel, whispering something to them before playing the music. As Brody and Santana duked it out, they didn't realize Cassandra standing at the doorway…and she was looking right at Santana and Brittany. There was something interesting about Santana from the moment she met her…and she had overheard her conversation about Brittany from down the hall. Cassandra may have been a bitch, but she also had a heart…even if it was small.

[Santana]  
La, la, la, la, la  
La, la, na, na, na

[Brody]  
Girl I've been all over the world looking for you  
I'm known for taking what I think I deserve and you're overdue  
And if you listen you can hear me through the radio  
In that bright white noise  
What I've been missing in my life, I've been dreaming of  
You'll be that girl, you'll be that girl, you'll be

[Santana]  
Everything you want so let me get up there  
I'm the baddest baby in the atmosphere  
Tell me what you want so we can do just what you like  
Everything you know I flip it upside down  
Take you round the world cause I like it loud  
Tell me what you want so we can do just what you like

[Brody]  
You make me feel good

[Santana with Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, la, la, la

[Brody]  
You make feel so

[Santana with Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, na, na, na

[Brody]  
You make me feel good

[Santana with Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, la, la

[Brody]  
You make me feel so

[Santana with Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, na, na, na

[Santana]  
Put your hands up  
Put your hands up  
Let the lights drop  
Let the lights drop  
Make my world stop  
Make my world stop

[Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, la, la  
La, la, na, na, na

[Brody and Santana]  
You make me feel good

[Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, la, la

[Brody and Santana]  
You make me feel so

[Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, na, na, na

[Brody and Santana]  
You make me feel good

[Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, la, la, la

[Brody and Santana]  
You make me feel so

[Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, na, na, na

[Brody and Santana]  
You make me feel so

[Brittany and Santana]  
La, la, la, la, la

[Brody and Santana]  
You make me feel good

[Brody, Santana, Brittany and Rachel]  
La, la, na, na, na

As soon as the music finished playing, everyone heard a clap come from the door. Everyone spun their heads to see Cassandra entering the room, flashing her signature smirk. Finn thought that she was going to say something cunning but Cassandra put her hand up in front of him, giving him a serious look before turning her head towards Santana.

"So, you think you have talent?" Cassandra walked around Santana, with Santana feeling a bit uneasy. When Santana didn't answer, Cassandra stared over at her, crossing her arms. "So…do you have talent or not?"

"Um…yes. Yes, I do have talent." Santana said after a moment of considering whether she should answer. Cassandra nodded her head, then looked to Brittany.

"What do you think? Do you think Santana over here has talent?" Santana worried that Cassandra was going to start picking on Brittany, but Brittany simply nodded her head.

"Santana's one of the best dancers I've ever seen. She's talented…dedicated…and if you give her a chance then…she'll prove the entire world wrong and show them what she can do." Cassandra then did something that no one expected…she smiled at Brittany.

"Is that so, Ms. Pierce?" Cassandra started walking around Brittany—but then Brittany became confused…more confused than usual.

"How did you know my name?" Brittany asked.

"New York performing arts schools have a tightknit community. I heard you were accepted into Julliard due to your incredible dancing, which I must say was incredible…and…I believe that I see you as a young Cassandra July…" Brittany continued to stare at Cassandra until she revealed a smile.

"Sweet." Brittany simply said, her infectious smile lighting up Cassandra's small, shallow heart.

"And since because I like you so much…I'm going to do something for your friend Santana over here…" Cassandra looked to Santana as Santana shuffled her feet. "You have talent Santana…and normally I don't do this…but I'm willing to offer you a dancing internship. I teach three classes here and then I teach a remedial class at Julliard…you're going to report to me every weekday and you're going to help me teach the last class of the day at NYADA…and then we're going to teach the remedial dance class at Julliard. And just so you know…the internship is paid…" Santana continued to stare at Cassandra in shock while Rachel, Finn and Brody eyed her in disbelief—but for different reasons.

"Cassie…you can't…you can't be serious. You promised _me_ that internship!" Brody spoke up, letting out nervous chuckles.

"I am serious. And I'm willing to give Santana a shot doing a job that she loves—dancing." Cassandra then started to head out of the dance studio while Santana and Brittany looked at one another. Rachel walked over to Cassandra with Finn following in tow. When they exited the dance studio, they looked to Cassandra, raising their eyebrows.

"I don't get it Cassandra…" Rachel started saying. "You hate us…you hate Santana…but…yet you gave Santana a job."

"Rachel…" Cassandra turned her head, staring at both Finn and Rachel. "Finn…I don't _hate_ my students."

"Really? Because you hit me with a car." Finn pointed to Cassandra as she shrugged her shoulders.

"My foot didn't hit the brake in time." Cassandra lied, then got back to her point. "Look, I'm intense…as you can see I made your semesters hell. But since the semester is almost over…I like to make peace with my students. I put all my students through craziness during the semester—I even sleep with a few of their boyfriends from time to time—even the ones that are convinced they're gay until they get on the Cassandra express. I wanted to test if you were both ready for the real world…because there are real people that are going to be like that in real life."

"Even getting hit by cars?" Finn couldn't let it go.

"Sure, look at Britney Spears. She hit the paparazzi with her car when she had that crazy spell." Cassandra shrugged, then continued to get to the point. "The point is…I test all my students that way…even if it's crazy. Because let me tell you something, I am one crazy bitch."

"I'm not going to argue with you there." Finn muttered. Cassandra then looked to them as she started to turn away.

"Just so you know…you passed." Cassandra started to leave.

"Wait, what?" Rachel shook her head.

"The entire semester? That was your final. You both danced with your friends in there…and you're not bad…so you passed. Now I won't have to see your mugs until your sophomore year." Cassandra walked down hallway, not saying another word. Finn and Rachel looked to one another, scratching their heads in interest.

"What…just happened?" Rachel was utterly confused. Finn decided to just let out a smile and wrap his fiancée in a hug.

"I don't know…but…at least we passed Cassandra's class and we won't have to see her until next year." Finn looked on the bright side.

"That's right…and now we have more time to see the production of _Les Mis…_directed by the one and only Finn Hudson." Rachel cooed.

"And we can see the lovely _Funny Girl_, which will be starred by none other than the funny, beautiful, Rachel Berry." Rachel blushed at Finn's comment, turning her face towards his and placing a kiss on his lips. As Finn got into the kiss, Rachel parted, giving Finn a slightly sad look. "As much as I want to stand here and kiss you all day, I have to go to rehearsal."

"I know you do…and I have to put the finishing touches on _Les Mis_. The teacher wants it to be perfect and it's getting that way." Finn pressed a kiss to Rachel's cheek, then started heading towards the auditorium.

"Hey Finn, when is Opening Night for _Les Mis_, anyway?" Rachel wondered.

"Oh, that would be on Tuesday. When is the Opening Night for _Funny Girl_?" Finn asked. Rachel's mind went blank as she widened her eyes.

"Um…Tuesday." Rachel spoke. Finn stopped in his tracks, then walked over to Rachel.

"At what time is your thing…?" Finn asked.

"Um…at what time is your thing…?" Rachel wondered. Finn and Rachel took a deep breath and decided to say it at the same time…maybe there was a time difference in when their projects started?

"Eight." They both said at the same time. Rachel and Finn let out a deep breath and started looking at one another with worried looks. They had something important to them that they wanted to share with each other—and it was at the same time!

"Um…don't worry…I'm sure that we can figure this out." Rachel shook her head while rubbing Finn's arm with her hand.

"Yeah, I mean…we just have to compromise, that's all…" Finn looked Rachel in the eye as she nodded her head.

"Exactly. Now, I have to go rehearse…I'll see you at home." Rachel pressed a quick kiss to Finn's lips, then walked down the hallway. Finn continued to look over at Rachel while letting out a sigh. What was he going to do?

* * *

"Thanks for taking me out for ice cream, Santana." Brittany exited a _Baskin Robins_ as they started to make their way back to Santana's loft. "Ice cream is the main thing that makes anyone happy in this world."

"That's true." Santana nodded her head as the two girls laughed. Brittany looked down at her ice cream, then looked to Santana.

"So…did you mean everything that you said to Brody…about me?" Brittany wondered. Santana looked to Brittany, nodding her head quickly.

"Yes, I meant every word I said, Brittany." Santana saw Brittany's smile widening. "You're a genius…and no one is smart enough to figure you out. That's their problem. I know what you're capable of…and you're such a visionary that no one will be able to be smart enough see it…" Santana and Brittany sat down by a nearby park bench, looking into each other's eyes. "I am sorry about what went down between us this year…and the last thing I've ever wanted to do was upset or hurt you…you're special…and I just kept thinking that if I could mask my heartbreak, then I'd be fine. But I wasn't. Thank you for having my best intentions in mind."

"I'll always look out for you…even when you're not sure if you want me to." Brittany admitted.

"And that's what makes you the best person for me Brittany." Santana grabbed Brittany's free hand as they looked at one another. "You make me want to be a better person. And I love that about you."

"Well, there are a lot of things that I love about you." Brittany shrugged her shoulders, giving Santana a grin.

"And what would that be?" Santana asked.

"I love how you never take no for an answer, you're smart, you have an awesome singing voice…and I love how you're not afraid to put down that exterior in order to show how much you care about me…" Brittany put her forehead on Santana's as Santana let out a smile.

"I love you, Brittany."

"I love you too, Santana." And with that, they sealed their restored love with a sweet kiss, not caring who walked past them and gave them looks. They were Brittana, and nothing was going to tear them apart ever again—except for the fact that Brittany had to go back to McKinley and finish the last four weeks left of school. Santana and Brittany got up from the bench, holding hands as they made their way back to the building, while Santana gave Brittany a smile.

"So are you excited to head back to help the Glee Club win Nationals?" Santana wondered. Brittany's face soured as she looked down to her feet.

"I'm not in Glee Club anymore." Brittany revealed. Santana looked over to Brittany with a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean you're not in Glee Club anymore?" Santana asked.

"Tina kicked me out of Glee Club because I'm not special to the club. All I do is dance around the stage and I don't have vocals like you or Rachel or Kurt or Mercedes or even Mercedes's clone. I can't even sing like Marley, Kitty, Artie or Jake. My voice isn't special." Brittany sighed.

"Brittany…you're going to rejoin Glee Club…and you're going to show them how special you are. They can't win without a killer dance sequence…and you're the only one that can teach them how to do that. I'm afraid with what mini-Puckerman will put the club through. He'd probably make them do ballet along the stage." Brittany giggled as they pictured Jake teaching the Glee Club ballet. "The point is Brittany, Tina's wrong. They need you. And you don't want to sit out of the last competition you'll ever do in High School, do you?"

"No, but…" Brittany looked to Santana with uncertainty. "What if we lose and it's my fault?"

"Remember, I'll be there. Nationals are in New York again…and I'll put anyone in their place if they say that it's your fault. It could never be your fault Brittany, I promise you." Brittany nodded her head, giving Santana a grin.

"All right, I'll go back to Glee Club. And I will amaze them with my dance moves, I promise you that." Brittany said. Santana and Brittany kissed once more, then headed into the loft where they saw Kurt and Blaine talking. Blaine turned his head to see Brittany standing there as she let out a smile. "Guess what Blaine, I'm going to join Glee Club again."

"That…that's great Brittany, because everyone missed you." Blaine got up from the sofa and hugged Brittany tightly.

"That's also awesome because now they can kick Stoner Brett and Jacob Israel out." Kurt added.

"Wait, why is Stoner Brett and Jacob Israel in Glee Club?" Santana shook her head, trying to comprehend everything.

"Because after Brittany left, Kitty kicked Tina out and we had to use two members to replace Brittany and Tina. But now that Brittany is back, we can add Tina again and then we can compete for Nationals." Blaine explained.

"That's great, Blaine because I had some ideas." Brittany looked excited again.

"What did you have in mind?" Blaine asked.

"How about instead of each of the seniors getting their own solo, we all sing a group number since this is our last performance?" Brittany suggested.

"Brittany…" Blaine put his hand on Brittany's shoulders, giving her a wide grin. "That is the best idea you've had in a very, very long time." Brittany grinned along with Blaine as Santana and Kurt looked on with a smile. Now that Brittany was back in Glee Club, everything was back in place for Nationals—that was…until New Directions actually met their competition.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: You Make Me Feel by Cobra Starship feat. Sabi (Sung by Santana Lopez, Brody Weston, Brittany Pierce and Rachel Berry)_


	47. Finchel & Klaine: Come And Get It

**_A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Finn and Rachel reconciled after Finn apologized for insulting Rachel, so all is happy in Finchel-Land. Santana finds a new job with Cassandra, who happens to be infatuated with Brittany's dancing. Santana and Brittany got back together again, and Brittany decided to rejoin the Glee Club, but now they have to worry about their competition who involve the Starlight Knights and a new group called The Hoosierdaddies. Wow, sounds like Nationals is going to be tough. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee but I wish I did. I thank you all for your reviews. I appreciate them, and please let me know how you like the chapter. **

**There are a couple of shocking revelations towards the end of the chapter, dealing with Finchel and Klaine, so let me know if you like them. Also, to give you an idea on who I based the director on, I gave you his name in the chapter. :) Enjoy the chapter everyone!**

* * *

"Rachel! Can you come here a minute?" Finn yelled from the kitchen, wondering what was taking his fiancée so long. After realizing that they had the opening of _Les Miserables_ and _Funny Girl_ at the same time, he wanted to let her know that he thought about it, and decided his decision. Finn noticed Rachel entering the kitchen with her hair tied in a bun while wearing an oversized grey sweater with blue jeans and converse with minimal makeup. Finn was used to seeing Rachel with her hair straight down, her bangs falling against her face, her eyeliner around her eyes. The way Rachel was dressed now, kind of reminded him of the Rachel from High School.

"So what's up?" Rachel wondered, taking a seat in the chair next to Finn. "I was just on my way to go donate some canned goods to the Food Bank and they said they'd take it if I was there in twenty minutes, so this kind of has to hurry up a bit."

"So, did you think about what we're going to do with _Les Mis_ and _Funny Girl_?" Finn asked. Rachel nodded her head slowly, folding her hands on the table.

"I did." Rachel got up from her seat and sat in Finn's lap, while wrapping her arms around his neck. "I thought about it and…I want to be there for Opening Night of _Les Miserables_." Finn was surprised that Rachel had chose him over her Broadway dreams. Finn shook his head, looking confused.

"Rachel…as sweet as that is, I can't ask you to do that for me." Finn sighed.

"Why not? Look, the director is still insisting that we do the topless scene in _Funny Girl_, and I'm not comfortable showing everything to the crowd. If this was Margaret's way of getting the role, then she can have it." Rachel looked Finn in the eye, until he realized what she had done.

"You quit _Funny Girl_, didn't you?" Finn sounded shocked. Rachel nodded her head, causing Finn to let out a sigh. "Rachel, ever since we were in High School, Broadway has always been a dream come true for you…that was all you would talk about. You're basically giving up on your dream."

"I'm not giving up on my dream." Rachel simply said. "I just realized the way they wanted to do _Funny Girl_ wasn't the way I wanted to do it. I told them if they wanted me, they would have to play it by my rules…so right now I am free to go see your masterpiece of _Les Miserables_."

"Rachel, I'm just afraid that when we're married, we'll get into a gigantic fight and then you're going to blame me for holding you back from your Broadway dreams—because it kind of feels like I am."

"But you're not getting in the way of my dreams, okay?" Rachel promised him. "My dream is to be a Broadway Star…not to be taken advantage of in order to gain the spotlight. I'm going to do this my way. Whether anyone cares or not."

"But what about Jesse? You're letting him down. He can't be Nick to Margaret's Fanny. Her Fanny is bad." Finn thought for a moment.

"My, Finn…since when do you care about Jesse?" Rachel slightly joked.

"Well…he was kind enough to talk to you during your time of need." Finn admitted. "I would just hate to not see you and Jesse on stage pretending to be a married couple. Better you than Margaret."

"Listen, she's going to realize the spotlight isn't as easy as she thinks. I'm going to go to see _Les Miserables_ and help coach New Directions for Nationals. And I need your support." Rachel put her forehead on Finn's as he stared in her eyes.

"All right, I'll support you." Finn said after a moment. "I just don't want you to give up on being Fanny on Broadway. You're fantastic Rachel, and you might never get another opportunity like this again."

"And how many opportunities are you going to get to direct a school musical, which I'm hearing from the theatre kids is pretty fantastic." Rachel shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

"Wait, they said that it was awesome?" Finn sounded a bit surprised.

"They did." Rachel nuzzled her nose to Finn's with a smile. "Even Ronald was excited about it."

"Really, because he seemed to hate me since he wants to get with you." Finn chuckled.

"Well, he admitted to some of his theatre friends that you're doing a fantastic job." Rachel looked into Finn's eyes, a smile appearing on her face. "I am so proud of you, Finn."

"Really?" Finn arched an eyebrow. "What did I do?"

"You were just you…" Rachel shrugged her shoulders, still smiling at him. "You've been through so much this year and you've attacked everything head-on…and won. With Cassandra, with Hunter, with Brody…just with everything. You didn't let Cassandra get to you even though she annoyed you, you protected Santana from Brody, you didn't let Hunter unfazed you and you did your best to protect me…you are amazing Finn and…when we broke up at McKinley….I was wrong about you…you're not a boy…you're a _man_…a man who loves. You really showed how much you love me and I am extremely proud to be marrying you." Finn pressed a kiss to Rachel's lips, with the kiss intensifying. Rachel then parted, getting up from Finn's lap while heading to the cabinets.

"Wait, where are you going?" Finn wondered.

"Food Bank. I'm donating the Spaghetti-O's and canned Spinach that no one in this house is eating." Rachel placed the cans in a bag then walked over to Finn.

"Rachel, don't punish those poor hungry people with Spinach." Finn gave her a puppy dog pout as Rachel rolled her eyes.

"They need it if they want to grow up big and strong. Besides, are you going to eat it?" Rachel playfully asked him.

"No." Finn quickly said, shaking his head. Rachel placed a kiss on Finn's forehead, heading out the door with the cans.

"I thought so." Rachel pointed at Finn then closed the door behind her. Finn continued to stare over at the door, then continued to think for a moment. Finn got up from the chair and grabbed his jacket from the hook. Rachel helped him when he was trying to help his father. Now he had to help Rachel by getting involved with her problems.

* * *

Finn entered the theatre an hour later, staring over at everyone rehearsing for _Funny Girl_. There was one person that he was interested in finding…but he found himself the center of attention amongst the girls. As Finn tried to find Jesse so that he could talk to him, he saw two girls staring over at him. Finn was sure that one of the two girls were Margaret, judging by the way Rachel had described her. Perfect hair? Perfect nails? Expensive clothing? Yep, that was Margaret. As Finn walked down the aisle, Margaret started following him, becoming interested in their new guest.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Margaret batted her eyes seductively. Finn knew what game Margaret was playing and simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm trying to find Jesse St. James." Finn said.

"Why would you want to find Jesse? You don't play for the other team, do you?" Margaret wrinkled her face in what Finn thought was disgust. Finn thought of a way to get Margaret off of his back—and it was perfect.

"Um…yes. I do play for the…other team." Finn felt a bit uncomfortable saying so. Marie looked from behind Margaret, giving Finn what she thought was a sexy stare.

"But you're so hot…how can you be gay?" Marie spoke in a sultry voice. Finn noticed Jesse come next to them as he eyed Finn, Marie and Margaret.

"Hey guys, what's going on here?" Jesse wondered. In haste, Finn grabbed Jesse's hand while Jesse gave Finn a shocked look. "What are you _doing?!_" Jesse hissed in Finn's ear.

"I have to talk to you about Rachel. For now, just go with this!" Finn hissed back. Jesse grumbled then looked over to Marie and Margaret.

"Now, if you will excuse me ladies, I have to go and talk to my…_date._" Jesse gave Finn a smirk was Finn rolled his eyes, leading Jesse away. As soon as they were out of sight, Finn hastily let go of Jesse's hand and started rubbing his hand on his shirt. "Dude, why did you tell them that you were gay?"

"Because they wouldn't leave me alone and I'm in love with Rachel, that's why." Finn retorted.

"Don't remind me." Jesse rolled his eyes, then walked over to Finn. "So why are you here? I mean, you don't strike me as someone that loves Broadway."

"Because I needed to talk to you." Finn hesitated but spoke after a moment. "Rachel said she quit _Funny Girl_ because of they wouldn't remove the topless scene. I have a feeling that it's Margaret's fault."

"That's what you're here for?" Jesse asked.

"Yes, that's what I'm here for." Finn answered. "We have to do something. Rachel worked so hard for this and it would be so unfair that Margaret got her way. We need to work together in order to get that scene removed."

"You want me to work with you?" Jesse pointed to Finn.

"Do you have any other brilliant ideas?" Finn crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't think so. So let's get thinking on some new ideas."

"All right, so what if I contacted Barbra Streissand and get her to come to see the show." Jesse thought.

"All right, but there's one problem." Finn said. "We don't exactly have Barbra Streissand's number on speed dial."

"That's true…" Jesse pointed over to Finn then looked over to the director. "How about we just speak to the director?"

"That's a good idea too." Finn added. Finn and Jesse walked over to the director, who eyed Finn and Jesse with interest.

"Jesse, is this the secret lover that Margaret was talking about?" The director looked down to his notepad as Jesse and Finn looked at one another in annoyance. "So who is your lover and what is he doing here?"

"All right, I'm not gay." Finn pointed to himself. "My fiancée is the one that's supposed to be Fanny Brice on Opening Night. Rachel Berry."

"Oh, Rachel. She's superbly talented. But she doesn't want to do the topless scene. Margaret said that we would be different than other _Funny Girl_ Broadway plays if we do so." The director shrugged.

"But why need a topless scene?" Finn wondered. "Isn't the story of the rocky love between Fanny and Nick enough? I mean, Fanny wanting to be with Nick despite her friends protests. Nick getting arrested for embezzlement, which leads Fanny to wonder how he was able to get all that money. The end of the play ending with both of them separating because even though they know that they love each other, it's not right…"

"You've actually watched Funny Girl?" The director became interested in Finn.

"Yes, Rachel made me watch it because I wanted to see the show with her as the lead. Look, I don't want Rachel to quit the play because of one scene. I want her to be the best that she can be because she's Rachel Berry. I want her to shine on that stage and I don't want to feel like she has to be uncomfortable. Please Mr. Murphy. Understand where I'm coming from…" Finn looked at the director as the director nodded his head.

"Call me Bryan…" The director held his hand out for Finn to take. Finn looked at the director, then shook his hand. "All right, since you seem to care about Rachel so much…I'll take out the topless scene. However, she still has to kiss Jesse during the performance." Finn nodded his head, then looked over to Jesse.

"Oddly, I'm fine with that." Finn assured them. Bryan walked past Finn after patting him on the back as Finn looked over to Jesse.

"So you're really okay with me kissing your fiancée during the production of _Funny Girl_?" Jesse asked. Finn shrugged his shoulders, then turned around.

"It's not up to me. It's up to Rachel. Besides, you're not the one that she goes home with at night." Finn patted Jesse's back, heading towards the exit of the auditorium. "Thanks man." Jesse continued to stare over at Finn as he left the auditorium. Jesse's eyes furrowed for a moment, wondering what exactly happened there…the last ten minutes were too much to handle for Jesse to handle.

* * *

Brittany entered McKinley high in her Cheerios uniform, gripping onto her backpack as she walked down the hallway to the Glee choir room. Brittany was nervous, but she knew that she would be welcomed with open arms to the club where she spent the last four years. Brittany entered the room, spotting Kitty, Marley, Jake, Artie and Ryder singing a song while the other Glee Club members and Mr. Schuester watched on. Brittany leaned against the door, staring at the five of them, kind of wishing that it was her singing along with them.

"Looks like they're having a lot of fun, aren't they?" A voice spoke behind Brittany. Brittany turned her head to see Tina standing there, feebly putting her hands in her pockets. Brittany blinked innocently towards Tina, then turned back around to face her friends.

"Yeah, they are." Brittany sounded as if she was a little sad. Tina took a deep breath, putting a hand on Brittany's shoulder.

"Brittany? I'm really sorry about kicking you out of the Glee Club." Tina apologized. "I guess I felt threatened by you because you're a great dancer and you've gotten so much better with your singing. I wanted the solo for Nationals but…not if it comes with losing a good friend like you." Brittany looked to Tina once more, a smile appearing on her face.

"Well, I forgive you." Brittany spoke. The two seniors hugged, feeling relieved that they were no longer fighting. "Now, how about you and I go into the Glee room and show them a real performance?"

"You'd be willing to sing with me?" Tina pointed to herself.

"Of course. We're the senior girls in the Glee Club. We have to show them who's boss." Brittany grinned. Tina and Brittany entered the Glee club just as the sophomores and Artie were finished singing. Artie turned his head towards the door, spotting Brittany and Tina, becoming relieved that they were friends again.

"You're here!" Marley exclaimed, giving Brittany a hug. Brittany reciprocated the hug, smiling at the Glee club.

"I decided that I was going to rejoin the Glee Club, so now you can all say…Hallelujah, we're saved!" Brittany grinned. Everyone clapped at Brittany's short speech as Brittany dragged Tina to the front of the room with her. "And to celebrate Tina and I returning to the Glee Club and being friends again, we have a song that we would like to sing a song that represents how our competition should view us during Nationals."

"All right then." Mr. Schuester nodded his head, sitting down in one of the seats and Tina and Brittany eyed one another. After a moment, they stared over at the band who started to play the music for Brittany and Tina's piece. Brittany and Tina looked as if they were enjoying themselves, dancing around the room and even let Marley, Kitty and Sugar get in on the fun as their background dancers. There was one thing that was obvious from their performance—they were the best of friends again, and they were willing to work together to make sure the competition wouldn't stand a chance.

[Brittany and Tina]  
When you're ready come and get it  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na  
When you're ready come and get it  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na  
When you're re-re—re-re-re-ady  
When you're re-re—re-re-re-ady, ready  
When you're ready come and get it  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na  
Na, na, na, na

[Tina]  
You ain't gotta worry it's an open invitation  
I'll be sitting right here real patient  
All day, all night  
I'll be waiting, standby  
It's not because I love it  
Hate the way I love you  
All day, all night  
Maybe I'm addicted for life  
No lie

[Brittany]  
I'm not too shy to show I love you  
I've got no regrets  
I love you much to, much to hide you  
This love ain't finished yet  
This love ain't finished yet  
So baby whenever you're ready

[Brittany and Tina]  
When you're ready come and get it  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na  
When you're ready come and get it  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na  
When you're re-re—re-re-re-eady  
When you're re-re—re-re-re-eady, ready  
When you're ready come and get it  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na  
Na, na, na, na

[Tina]  
This love will be the death of me  
But I know I'll die happily  
I 'll know, I'll know, I'll know  
Because I love you so

Yeah!

[Brittany]  
When you're ready come and get it  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na (Tina: Na, na, na, na)  
When you're ready come and get it  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na (Tina: Come and get it! Yeah)  
When you're re-re—re-re-re-eady  
When you're re-re—re-re-re-eady (Tina: When you're re-re—re-re-re-eady)  
When you're ready come and get it (Tina: When you're ready, when you're ready)  
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na (Tina: Come and get it, get it)

[Brittany and Tina]  
Na, na, na, na

As soon as the song finished, everyone in the Glee Club stood up and clapped loudly for both Tina and Brittany, the two friends hugging it out after the song. Mr. Schuester walked to them, putting his arms around both the girls shoulders while looking at the other Glee club members.

"You see guys! This is what we need when we have to get our mindset on Nationals in two weeks. We have to think like them. Like they said, when the other team is ready…they have to come and get us…because we're not going down without a fight! Good job, girls." Mr. Schuester smiled at Tina and Brittany as the Glee Club members clapped for the two seniors. Brittany and Tina looked at one another with a smile, until someone walked in—someone that was all too familiar.

"That's it?" They looked to see Sue Sylvester standing in the doorway, crossing her arms and looking confused. "They fight and then become friends again? Where are the cat claws? Where's the yelling? Where's the hair pulling? If these kids are going to sit here for an hour a day, there has to be drama." Everyone looked to Mr. Schuester who let out an exasperated sigh.

"Not the point of Glee Club, Sue."

* * *

Finn sat in the living room, reading over the paper with a smile on his face, glad that he was able to talk to the director in order to get the topless scene out. He seemed almost proud of himself. He was able to help Rachel with her problems—and it felt good. Finn turned his head to see Rachel enter the apartment looking noticeably different; Rachel's hair color was a copper brown, the highlights completely gone from her hair. Her hair almost reminded Finn of when they were in High School. Rachel seemed as if she was really excited to tell Finn something, so she sat down next to Finn, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hi…" Rachel sweetly said, pressing a kiss to Finn's cheek.

"Hi there." Finn ran his hand through Rachel's newly colored hair. "Decided for a hair change?"

"Yep. And while I was at the salon, you wouldn't believe the call I got from the director of _Funny Girl_." Rachel eyed Finn with a smile, as if she couldn't contain herself. "He said he was writing the topless scene out of the musical, so that means I get to still be in the show."

"Gee, really?" Finn pretended to sound surprised, a smile creeping on his face. "I wonder what changed his mind?"

"Hmm, he did say that he talked to someone who looked kind of like…you." Rachel pointed to Finn. "Did you go to the auditorium and talk to the director for me because you were worried about me?" Finn couldn't play coy any longer and nodded his head.

"I knew how much being Fanny Brice on Broadway meant to you…so, I went over there and I spoke to him. The director's a very reasonable guy." Finn said.

"Oh, he is." Rachel pressed her lips to Finn's, engulfing him in a passionate kiss. After a moment, Rachel removed her lips from Finn's, running a hand through his hair. "Thank you for doing what you did. But…what about _Les Mis?"_

"Rachel…you're going to be on Broadway. What I'm doing is a class assignment. I want you to go and follow your dreams and not let me hold you back. Look, I want you to be happy and if being Fanny on Broadway is what makes you happy then so be it. I'll let you know how I did on my class assignment. Just do what you do best…deal?" Finn held out his pinky as Rachel giggled. She wrapped her pinky with Finn's, 'pinky promising' him that she would do what he said.

"I love you, you know that right?" Rachel kissed Finn once more as Finn playfully tackled her onto the sofa.

"And I love you." Finn pressed a kiss to Rachel's forehead. He then looked a bit saddened as Rachel noticed.

"What's wrong?" Rachel pressed her forehead to Finn's as he played with her hair again.

"I'm gonna miss the highlights in your hair." Finn admitted. "I thought they were really cute on you. But I love you just the same." Rachel's smile widened as she pressed her lips to Finn's once more.

"If you want, I will be more than glad to add highlights in my hair in two weeks. I just wanted my old hair back for a change. But I promise, I'll do the highlights again since you love it so much." Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn's neck, watching as her fiancé smiled back down at her.

"Pinky promise?" Finn playfully asked.

"Pinky promise…" Rachel answered. Finn hungrily pressed a kiss to Rachel's lips as the two of them started making out on the sofa, unaware that Kurt entered the room.

"Please keep your clothes on until you reach your room." Kurt smirked while heading over to the kitchen. "We have company."

"Who? Blaine?" Finn looked up from Rachel to stare at Kurt.

"Yes, Blaine and we're working on our auditions for NYADA." Kurt answered. "Now, if you want we could leave for a couple of hours while you two get…reacquainted." Kurt pointed to Finn and Rachel and Finn quickly nodded his head. Rachel giggled and put her face in the crook of Finn's neck as Kurt nodded his head. "Fine, I'll get Blaine. Just…be careful." Kurt couldn't tell Rachel and Finn to 'be good' because they were immediately going to do just the opposite as soon as he left. Blaine and Kurt left the loft a moment later as Rachel and Finn looked at one another. Finn got up from the sofa and carried Rachel to the bedroom, off to show how much they loved one another.

* * *

After what seemed like countless hours of making love to one another, Finn and Rachel laid in the comfort of one another, their sheets covering them and their hands intertwined. Finn ran his free hand through Rachel's hair, staring down at her as she looked back at him with a playful smirk. Finn laid his chin on Rachel's bare shoulder, staring over at her as she pressed a small kiss to his cheek.

"You're thinking again…" Finn mumbled. Rachel looked to Finn, running a hand through his hair.

"What?" Rachel looked into Finn's eyes, wondering what he had meant.

"You're thinking of something, Rachel. I mean you're always thinking." Finn shrugged his shoulders as Rachel looked to Finn.

"Well, maybe I was thinking of something…" Rachel bit her lip while Finn eyed her.

"What is it?" Finn wondered, Rachel continued to look at Finn, then sighed.

"What if I'm crazy and…I didn't want to wait to get married?" Rachel asked. Finn raised an eyebrow as Rachel reached for her robe that was on the floor near the bed. "Never mind…"

"Wait, Rachel…" Finn grabbed Rachel's hand, preventing her from moving. "You don't want to wait to get married?"

"I mean, we're both adults Finn and…I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you…I know that in my heart, getting married to you right now would feel so right." Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"But Rachel, don't you want our family there?" Finn asked. "Don't you want Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury there, our family, our friends…I don't think they'll be very happy that we just ran off and eloped before we actually decided on the wedding."

"I mean, we can still have a wedding ceremony like you wanted where all of our friends are there but…I want us getting married to be me and you. Just the two of us." Rachel looked to Finn as he groaned slightly.

"But I wanted us to share it with our friends. I mean, think about Kurt being mad because he can't choose your dress or Santana because she can't do your makeup. I mean, don't you bridesmaids there?" Finn wondered.

"Finn, I want all those things…but I don't think I can wait another moment of us just being…engaged. I want us to be married. We could hide our marriage until the actual ceremony if you want, but…I want to me Mrs. Rachel Hudson now. I don't want to wait for three weeks down the line." Rachel noticed Finn relenting slightly as he stared at her. Finn took a deep breath while running his hand through his hair.

"Do you really want to get married right now?" Finn asked. Rachel looked to Finn, nodding her head vigorously. Finn sighed, then pointed his finger at her. "And even if we're married we can still have a wedding ceremony to officially commemorate our marriage?"

"Yes…but if we go to City Hall right now, we can consummate our marriage _tonight…_" Finn's eyes widened at Rachel's slyness then let out a grin.

"You're so daring, invigorating…what did you do to the Rachel Berry that I knew when I first met you?" Finn asked while chuckling.

"She grew up…and met a handsome, dashing man named Finn Hudson…" Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's cheek as he let out a chuckle.

"Well, we might as well shower and get dressed…" Finn said after a moment.

"You mean…" Rachel's smile widened as Finn nodded, giving Rachel a grin.

"Let's get married…right now."

* * *

"What do you think Finn and Rachel are doing?" Blaine asked as he and Kurt were sitting in a nearby Starbucks.

"I'm not going to answer that question for you, but if you want to know…it rhymes with hex." Kurt chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee.

"All right, I didn't want to know." Blaine looked through the song choices then sighed. "Our audition is tomorrow…and I'm so nervous."

"Don't be…we're going to do fine…but we all know that you're going to get in." Kurt rolled his eyes, smiling at Blaine.

"What?" Blaine looked to Kurt who seemed unsure.

"I'm not going to get in. I was lucky enough to get an audition but once Carmen Tibideaux sees me as the guy that had too many props, then she won't take me back. Besides, I'm happy at Vogue." Kurt shrugged his shoulders.

"Kurt, how are you going to know if you're good or not if you never take risks?" Blaine wondered. Kurt looked up to Blaine, thinking for a moment.

"I don't know…she didn't like my performance the last time…" Kurt sighed.

"Then don't sing with the props." Blaine suggested.

"What? But I need the props! Without them, I'll feel naked…if you…know what I mean." Kurt blushed at the last part.

"Well, let me tell you something. Maybe all she wants is to see your talent. No flashy pants, no canes, no top hats, none of that…all that should matter is your voice." Blaine placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder while Kurt continued to stare at Blaine.

"Are you sure about this?" Kurt sounded a bit unsure.

"I am sure about this." Blaine promised. He continued to stare at Kurt who finally nodded his head.

"All right, I'll do it with no props. I promise…" Kurt said, then took a deep breath. "That means we need to head to the record store, pronto."

"Why is that?" Blaine asked.

"Because we have to go and look for song sheets, that's why." Kurt got up from his seat, motioning for Blaine to follow him. Blaine looked at Kurt with a smile, thinking about all they had been through in the past year, while stuffing his hand in his pockets. If Kurt had asked what was in Blaine's pockets, it would have been a ring inside of a box—a ring that Blaine would of planned on proposing to Kurt with, but waiting for the right time just on the off chance Kurt broke his heart and said no.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Come And Get It by Selena Gomez (Sung by Brittany Pierce and Tina Cohen-Chang)_


	48. Klaine: All You Ever

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Rachel chose Finn over herself and Finn couldn't allow that, so along with Jesse they got the topless scene out of Funny Girl. That led Rachel to decide she wanted to elope with Finn! Tina and Brittany both rejoin Glee Club and are friends again, but does anyone believe Tina's niceness from now until school ends? Kurt and Blaine are still trying to figure out what kind of song they're going to sing for their audition, and Blaine reveals that he wants to marry Kurt with a ring in his pocket. Wow, and that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee but I wish I did.**

**Note: The songs in the episode that I said Marley wrote are actual semi-known songs from other artists. I thought of this as the same scenario that Glee used 'You Have More Friends Than You Know' where we know the original artist but in the show it's used as an original song. I chose those songs as the songs Marley 'wrote' because they seem to fit her personality and her 'writing style'. Like I do with every chapter, I will add the actual artist at the bottom so you could check it out on Youtube if you'd like. I'll do it at least one or two more times for Marley until Nationals is over. Enough of my babbling, let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

Three hours later, Finn and Rachel headed towards the entrance of their Bushwick apartment, absolutely glowing. They had spent the last two hours heading to City Hall, paying $100 and getting a marriage license. Rachel actually couldn't believe it. Right now, she was Mrs. Rachel Hudson, something she had dreamed of ever since they were in High School and Finn was dating Quinn. She had never thought that being with Finn would be a reality, but here they were married, about to enter their apartment for the first time as a married couple. Of course, getting married in secret meant that they had to hide it from their friends until they were "officially" married after the school year ended. As Finn went to open the door, he received a kiss on his cheek from Rachel, flashing her a smile.

"All right, so when we go in there we pretend nothing happened." Finn looked to Rachel, getting the plan in order.

"Agreed." Rachel nodded her head. "Although it's going to be hard not to tell Kurt or Santana. They're bound to find out sometime."

"After the official wedding, we can tell everyone that we got married." Finn promised her. Rachel nodded her head, agreeing with Finn's logic. As the two lovebirds entered the apartment, they noticed Santana sitting on the sofa and reading a _Seventeen_ magazine, the television flipped to one of those trash talk shows where they find out who the father was. Santana looked up, giving them a small smile as Finn and Rachel entered the apartment.

"Hey, where did you two go?" Santana closed her magazine, getting up to look at her friends. "And don't say that you went to the supermarket or the library because you have no books and there's no food in your hands." _Crap_, Finn thought to himself. He was actually going to use the library as an excuse.

"We went for a walk." Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"Really? Where did you go for a walk to? All the way to City Hall to get hitched?" Santana raised an eyebrow while crossing her arms. Finn and Rachel looked at one another then back at Santana in shock. How…how did she know?!

"What are you talking about?" Finn tried to lie.

"Don't, Finn." Santana put her hand up staring at him. "My Psychic Mexican Third Eye could sense it…also you two think the door is soundproof meaning that I heard the entire conversation from here." Finn and Rachel looked to one another then let out a sigh.

'Santana, you can't tell anyone." Rachel pleaded. "This was just something Finn and I wanted to do."

"So what about your friends and family being there while you got married?" Santana wondered, feeling a little hurt. "I'm sorry, are we not good enough for you?"

"Santana, I agreed to get married to Rachel now because she promised me we'd have a real wedding once everyone gets out of school." Finn explained. "It's just this was a spur of the moment thing." Santana continued to stare at Finn and Rachel then let out a sigh. She nodded her head then went back to her magazine.

"Well…I forgive you." Santana then let out a genuine smile, looking to her two friends. "So where are the rings?" Finn went into his pocket and showed Santana the two marriage rings. Santana eyed the rings then smiled at her friends. "Well, I'm glad you two will be happy together."

"Thank you, and I promise you that when we have the real wedding…you can do my makeup." Rachel promised. Santana looked to Rachel, letting out a grin.

"Good, because I would have done it anyway." Santana gave Rachel a hug as Rachel reciprocated it. Finn stood and watched the two friends hug it out, thinking that just two years ago, they hated one another. Now they were very good friends, living under the same roof. After a moment, Santana thought then looked to Finn. "So, are you going to tell Kurt?"

"Tell Kurt what?" The door opened with Kurt and Blaine entering the room.

"Nothing, just that Rachel and Finn went to get hitched at City Hall two hours ago." Santana blurted out. Rachel and Finn looked to Santana with their eyes widened, looking back at Kurt. Kurt chuckled for a moment, then stared over at Rachel.

"Rachel, please tell me that Santana's making up a hilarious story about you and Finn getting married?" Kurt noticed Rachel's face not changing, causing Kurt's face to become serious. "You guys got married at City Hall? Are you two crazy?!"

"What is wrong with that?" Finn groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Let's think that you two promised you were going to get married with your friends and family sitting there." Kurt thought aloud. "Also not to mention mom and dad won't be thrilled to find out that in your adventures in New York, you spontaneously married Rachel at a government building where a wedding ceremony is shorter than one in Vegas, except the pastor is dressed as Elvis in Vegas."

"Kurt, listen. I wanted to marry Rachel because I love her. And nothing is going to change three weeks from today when there will be an actual wedding ceremony. Rachel and I will always love each other." Finn assured him.

"All right, but I'm still thinking that mom and dad won't be excited to find out the next time you call them that you're married." Kurt explained.

"Kurt. Everything will be fine. Don't worry about it." Finn assured his brother. "Now, if you don't mind I am going to go to my room to think how crazy you're being because I did something that makes me happy. Come along Rachel." Finn grabbed Rachel's hand and went into their bedroom, closing the door behind them. Finn continued to stare at Rachel, letting out a slight groan as Rachel let out a sigh. "Do you think we did the right thing by getting married at City Hall?"

"Well…we were going to get married anyway." Rachel thought on the bright side. Finn and Rachel looked at one another, then let out a grin.

"And that's why I love you. You're always talking sense." Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel, engulfing her in a hug. Rachel slyly gave Finn a look as she walked backwards towards the bed.

"You know Finn…it _is_ our wedding night after all…" Rachel sat down on the bed as Finn let out a chuckle.

"Yep, you're right…time to sleep." Finn jumped in the bed alongside Rachel, causing her to let out a giggle. Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Let everyone think what they want. I know I did the right thing by me because I know that we're going to be together for the rest of our lives."

* * *

The next morning, Marley sat by the piano with some lyrics and sheet music working on another song that she had in mind. Although Blaine gave her some ideas for the song that she was writing for (hopefully) Nationals, she just couldn't seem to focus. She wanted to win the Glee Club over, so she continued to write a song that was in her head for the last two weeks now. Marley was into her thoughts that she didn't notice Jake standing right behind her, letting out a small grin.

"What are you working on?" Jake asked, sitting on the piano bench next to Marley.

"I'm just working on a song." Marley shrugged her shoulders. "It has to be perfect. I want to win the Glee Club over so that maybe we could use one of my songs at Nationals."

"That's really awesome. Is this the song that you're writing for Nationals?" Jake looked at the paper, skimming through it.

"Actually no…" Marley shook her head. "It was just a song that was in my mind for a while and I had to get it down before I forgot it."

"Oh, well…would you mind playing what you have written for me?" Jake wondered, staring at Marley with interest. Marley looked back to Jake, thinking for a moment on whether or not she should, then finally relented.

"Well, if you want…" Marley thought for a moment then looked Jake in his eyes. "I wrote this song…kind of because I wasn't sure what _we_ were going to be." Jake continued to look at Marley as she looked at the piano. Marley started to play a couple of notes on the piano, then started singing the song to Jake as he looked at her as if she was the most magnificent thing in the entire world.

I told you my heart's leaning towards you  
A little more than I knew something was scaring you  
Is it too much or too fast or too forward  
Should I step back and pretend I don't feel this way?  
I don't wanna tell a lie, I don't wanna have to hide

It's on the line I've waited for a sign  
I see it in your eyes, I know you really feel the same  
I need to know if I should raise or fold, my heart is stuck on hold  
I, I wanna know which way to go  
I can't love alone  
I can't love alone

I tried not to fall so far for you  
Now I can't get away from anything you say  
You make me feel nervous and stupid  
Whenever I tell you I'm tired of playing games  
I don't wanna tell a lie, I don't wanna have to hide

It's on the line I've waited for a sign  
I see it in your eyes, I know you really feel the same  
I need to know if I should raise or fold, my heart is stuck on hold  
I, I wanna know which way to go  
I can't love alone  
I can't love alone

Oh, I can't stay here wondering if you want me  
If you don't take me, you should leave

It's on the line I've waited for a sign  
I see it in your eyes, I know you really feel the same  
I need to know if I should raise or fold, my heart is stuck on hold  
I, I wanna know which way to go  
I can't love alone  
I can't love alone  
I can't love alone

After Marley finished singing, Jake looked at her with a wide grin. Marley suddenly felt a little silly about singing a personal song to Jake but when she noticed he was into it, she realized it was a great song. Marley looked down at the lyrics while Jake put an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer.

"Marley, you have to show this to New Directions. If they hear this then we could use an original song for Nationals…and possibly win." Jake was thinking of all the possibilities in his mind.

"Jake…" Marley stopped him, staring at him. "Mr. Schuester made it pretty clear that he wants the seniors to have the lead numbers. I mean, Blaine inspired me to write a song for Nationals just in case Mr. Schuester said yes to the idea but it's most likely going to go in the folder with the other 97 rejected songs."

"So what about this song?" Jake pointed to the lyrics on the piano.

"Well, do you like it?" Marley asked. Jake thought for a moment, then released a grin.

"I love this song. And you're right…there's no way that you could love alone…which is why I'm gonna have to do some loving myself." Marley saw Jake's face flash into a wide grin as he pressed a kiss on her cheek. Marley intertwined her hand with Jake's, smiling at him.

"Well, I guess this song is going to go in the approved folder with the other ten songs I have." Marley shrugged her shoulders.

"Will you at least consider singing an original song during Glee Club?" Jake pressed on. Marley thought for a moment then nodded her head.

"As long as you sit there in the front row and tell me if it's good or not." Marley promised.

"Then you have yourself a deal." Jake smiled, then pressed a kiss to Marley's lips. Marley responded to the kiss, but both of the teenagers were oblivious to the fact that Mr. Schuester was standing in the doorway, hearing everything. Hearing the song, hearing Jake tell Marley that the song was brilliant, telling her that she should take a chance if she wanted her song to be in Nationals. Mr. Schuester's mind was brewing…and he had some other plans for the New Directions.

* * *

The next morning at the loft, Rachel was busy flipping pancakes waiting for her fiancé—wait her _husband_ to come into the kitchen to get up and eat. After consummating their marriage, Rachel spent time watching Finn as he slept, thinking how great it was to be married to him. The only issue? She was basically lying to everyone (except for Kurt, Blaine and Santana) about how they were still engaged. Not telling the truth was just as bad as lying in Rachel's mind. Rachel continued to flip the pancakes as Kurt entered the kitchen with a newspaper in hand.

"Good morning." Rachel beamed over to her friend. Kurt sat down in one of the chairs pointing over to Rachel.

"Don't 'Good morning' me with a happy cheery tone, Sally Sunshine." Kurt huffed slightly. "I'm still mad at you that you went off and got married without having a proper wedding." Rachel looked to Kurt, then let out a sigh.

"I'll give you Finn's pancakes if you stop being mad at me." Rachel enticed. Kurt thought about it for a moment then held his empty plate out.

"Lay it on me sister." Kurt said. Rachel placed some pancakes on Kurt's plate, leading Kurt to take a bite. "You're lucky you make great pancakes." Kurt spoke while having his mouth full.

"Thank you." Rachel smiled. Rachel turned back and started getting more mix ready to make Finn's pancakes as Kurt let out a sigh. "Is something bothering you, Kurt?" Rachel turned back around, seeing Kurt fiddling with the newspaper.

"Today is my NYADA audition along with Blaine's." Kurt muttered. "What happens if I don't make it?"

"You'll never know unless you try." Rachel said with a smile. "You're both going to make it. I have faith in you guys. Just sing like you're in the Glee Club. That's the advice that Finn gave me when I was auditioning for _Funny Girl_."

"Well…if you think I'm going to do well." Kurt muttered, still looking down at the pancakes. Rachel sat down at the table, looking at her friend.

"Something else is bothering you. What is it?" Rachel pressed on.

"Well, it has to do with Blaine." Kurt said. "I can't stop thinking about him and I don't know why. I could be stressed out and my mind suddenly wanders over to Blaine and it suddenly makes me feel better. Why is that?"

"It's really simple." Rachel shrugged her shoulders, a grin appearing. "You still love Blaine."

"Me? Love Blaine? Really?" Kurt's eyes widened.

"Yes, you love Blaine." Rachel put a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "You just don't want to admit it. Wasn't all you really wanted was for Blaine to love you and to show you?" Kurt considered Rachel's logic for a moment, but before he could say anything, Finn entered the kitchen, scratching his head while yawning. He looked at Rachel, feeling satisfaction that she was now his wife. Finn walked over to his wife, placing a kiss on her cheek while Rachel's smile widened.

"Good morning Mrs. Hudson." Finn purred into Rachel's ear as she giggled.

"Good morning Mr. Hudson." Rachel said back. Kurt rolled his eyes, going back to the pancakes that were in front of him.

"Well, as much as I'd like to help you keep up this lie, I'm afraid I have work that I must attend to. My NYADA audition is calling for me." Kurt got up from the chair, patting Rachel on her shoulder. "Thanks for the pep-talk _Mrs. Hudson_." Kurt exited the kitchen as Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel's waist, pulling her in for a slow kiss.

"How does it feel to be married?" Finn asked as Rachel tapped her chin, playfully thinking.

"Hmm…it's actually quite nice…but something feels missing." Rachel turned to face her husband. Finn looked into Rachel's eyes as she pressed a kiss to his lips, causing Finn to pull her close and let out a grin.

"Mmm…you really do know how to get to me." Finn responded after parting his lips from hers. Finn and Rachel were about to give a kiss to one another again until Finn heard the kitchen phone ring. He noticed Rachel giving a small pout as he walked over to the phone. "Hello?"

"_Finnegan Christopher Hudson!_" It was a voice that Finn and Rachel knew all too well—Carole Hudson, Finn's mother.

"Mom…hi there. Nice of you to call." Finn tried to be nonchalant about the situation but he knew his mother wasn't going to have any of that.

"_Finn, why did I get a text from your brother saying that you got married yesterday?_" Carole scolded her son. Finn turned his head towards Rachel, mouthing the word '_Kurt_' towards Rachel. Rachel slapped her hand to her forehead as Finn focused towards the phone call.

"I was going to tell you, mom." Finn sighed.

"_Finn, I'm not mad that you married Rachel_." Carole said after a moment of silence. Finn seemed a bit surprised. She wasn't mad at him for going behind her back and marrying his high school sweetheart?

"You're not?" Finn made sure that he heard his mother correctly.

"_No, I'm not mad—but I am disappointed that you didn't want your family and friends there on the most joyous of days_." Carole explained.

"Mom, I'm sorry but this was something that Rachel and I wanted to do." Finn explained.

"_So you didn't want your only mother at your own wedding with your fiancée?" _Finn understood that Carole sounded a bit hurt so he let out a sigh.

"Mom, Rachel and I wanted to have a ceremony in Lima after Nationals and school is over. And we wanted all of our friends and family there." Finn heard Carole let out a small sigh of relief as he let out a small smile.

"_As long as you want us to be there for that…but Finn, there is one thing that you forgot to calculate when marrying Rachel in the spur of the moment." _Finn raised an eyebrow at his mother thought, turning back to Rachel as Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh really? What was that?" Finn looked back to the phone.

"_Rachel's fathers_."

"Rachel's fathers…." Finn simply repeated until a look of realization dawned over him. "Rachel's…father's…OH my god…they're gonna kill me."

"_You might want to talk to them, Finn…better they hear it from you and Rachel than from anyone else_." Carole explained to her son.

"All right, all right, I'll talk to them. I promise. Look, I have to go. I have to put the final touches on _Les Mis_ before Opening Night." Finn simply said. After saying his goodbyes to his mother, he hung up the phone then looked over to Rachel who looked as if she was in a daze. "Rachel?" Finn walked over to Rachel, sitting down next to her.

"I completely forgot about my fathers." Rachel sounded a bit scared. "I mean, I guess I wasn't thinking. We're in the bright city of New York where anything could happen…now that I think about it, the whole marriage was a spur of the moment thing."

"So are you regretting that we got married…so quickly?" Finn was afraid to hear Rachel's answer, but she simply shook her head.

"No, I don't regret that we got married. Not one bit. But, I do regret not telling my dad's…at least warning them that this was something I was doing." Rachel simply stated.

"Don't worry. I'll talk to them. I'll tell them when they come to New York next week." Finn said.

"Wait, they're coming here next week?!" Rachel's eyes widened, staring at Finn.

"Yeah, they texted me saying Tuesday…they wanted to see you on _Funny Girl…_and I probably should have told you before." Finn continued to stare at Rachel as she let out a sigh.

"Thanks for giving me time to prepare for this Finn." Rachel spoke in a sardonic tone, causing Finn to roll his eyes.

"We'll get through this, babe." Finn promised. Finn grabbed Rachel's hand, holding it close to him. "I'm just saying you might want to start writing my eulogy for my funeral."

"Why do you say that?" Rachel sounded surprised.

"Because your dads are going to kill me." Finn groaned as Rachel couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"But they love you. Everything is going to be fine." Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's lips as Finn's smile widened. Rachel got up from her seat, walking to the bathroom so she could get started on her day. She still had to prepare for _Funny Girl_. But as she headed to the bathroom, she took one last look at Finn, realizing that he was doing almost anything to make sure everything between them worked. There had to be a way for Rachel to show Finn how much she appreciated him. And that was when she had an idea…

* * *

Kurt and Blaine entered the NYADA auditorium after taking a tour along with the other potential students of NYADA before their auditions. Kurt sat down in one of the seats as Blaine looked over to Kurt with a nervous expression. Before anyone could say anything, Carmen Tibideaux entered the auditorium, staring at everyone with a serious glare.

"Good afternoon everyone. You are all here because you believe that you have the potential to enter NYADA. Well, the only one that could tell you that is me. Let the auditions begin and good luck to you all." Carmen Tibideaux sat down at her chair looking over at the students. "Blaine Anderson. Kurt Hummel." Blaine and Kurt looked at one another, then back at Mrs. Tibideaux. After a moment, they got up from their chairs, heading over to the front of the auditorium.

"Is there a reason that you wanted us both on the stage?" Blaine asked. Carmen Tibideaux continued to stare at them, giving them a nod.

"Choose a song and you're both going to duet. It will give me a chance speed up this audition process and hear both your voices at once. Does that sound fair?" Blaine and Kurt looked at one another then nodded their heads.

"And I know just the song that we're going to do." Blaine looked to Kurt then let out a sigh. "Sorry if this isn't Broadway but…" Carmen Tibideaux nodded as Blaine and Kurt eyed one another. The music started to fill the room and the more they sang, the more it felt like they were singing to each other. In the back of Kurt's mind, maybe Rachel was right…maybe Kurt _was_ still in love with Blaine…

[Blaine]  
You gave me chances  
I let you down  
You waited for words  
That I couldn't get out  
I have no excuses  
For the way that I am  
I was clueless and I couldn't understand

[Blaine with Kurt]  
All that you wanted  
And all that you needed  
Was a side of me I never let you see  
And I wish I could love you  
And make you believe it  
Cause that's all you ever wanted  
That's all you ever wanted from me

[Kurt]  
Could I be selfish  
Or lost in my pride  
Afraid to be forward  
Or just too scared to try  
Now I'm without you  
And it took distance to see  
That losing you, means losing everything

[Kurt and Blaine]  
All that you wanted  
And all that you needed  
Was a side of me I never let you see  
And I wish I could love you  
And make you believe it  
Cause that's all you ever wanted  
That's all you ever wanted from me

[Blaine]  
And is it too late and are you too far

[Blaine and Kurt]  
To turn around and let me be…let me be

[Kurt]  
All that you wanted  
And all that you needed  
I'll show the side of me I never let you see

[Blaine and Kurt]  
And I wish I could love you  
And make you believe it  
Cause that's all you ever wanted  
That's all you ever wanted  
And that's all you ever wanted  
That's all you ever wanted  
From me

Oh, from me

As soon as Blaine and Kurt finished singing, they looked over to Carmen Tibideaux, trying to see if she was impressed or not. Her expression didn't give it away, so Blaine and Kurt were a bit in the dark about their performance.

"Thank you Mr. Anderson and Mr. Hummel." Carmen Tibideaux said, going to choose the next person in the auditorium to duet. Blaine and Kurt got off the stage, heading towards the exit. They were still in a bit of a shock, wondering if they had made it through or not.

"So what do you think about us making it? Do we have a good chance?" Blaine wondered.

"I think we do." Kurt said, but he sounded unsure about whether their audition went well. He was a bit nervous…and he thought maybe that he was going to have to work as a Vogue intern for the rest of his life.

* * *

Glee Club commenced that afternoon with the students sitting in their chairs, talking about their set list for Nationals. Today was the day that they were going to find out the theme for Nationals and from there they would be able to think of all the possibilities that they could sing. For the seniors, this was their last competition _ever_, which made this all the more important to win Nationals. As they continued to speak, Mr. Schuester entered the classroom, staring at the teenagers.

"All right, New Directions! I'm sure that you're excited to know about the theme for Nationals…" Mr. Schuester headed to the board and started scribbling the word 'Inspiration' on the board. "This year's theme is Inspiration. That means that we need to think of some songs that have to do with inspiration…" before Mr. Schuester could speak, Tina got up from her chair, giving him a smile.

"Don't worry Mr. Schue, I'll find us the greatest songs in the world for Nationals." Tina smiled. Mr. Schuester motioned Tina to sit down, which caused her to have a surprised expression.

"Remember two years ago when we were in Nationals in New York? We did Original Songs." Mr. Schuester reminded them.

"But we lost." Artie pointed out.

"And I'm sure that was somehow Finn and Rachel's fault. They're original songs were all about them and not about the team." Tina added with a know-it-all tone.

"Well, we're going to do an original song again for Nationals." Mr. Schuester looked over to Marley as everyone's gaze turned to her. Marley looked around the room to realize everyone's eyes were on her, before turning back to Mr. Schuester. "Marley, I heard your song that you sang this morning to Jake on my way to the teachers' lounge. It was raw; it was real…and had real potential of being a winner in a competition. I want you to write an inspiring song for Nationals." Marley continued to stare at Mr. Schuester, unbelieving that she was getting a gigantic chance to possibly bring home another Nationals trophy with a song that she was told to write.

"You've got to be kidding me." Tina spoke out. Everyone looked back at Tina who rolled her eyes, looking away from the Glee Club.

"Is there something wrong Tina?" Mr. Schuester shook his head.

"You're giving the spotlight to a sophomore for Nationals? Seriously? This is my last competition ever and you're going to let her shine? That's not fair." Tina protested.

"It's my decision, Tina. Marley's singing an original song for Nationals." Mr. Schuester put his foot down. Brittany raised her hand, causing Mr. Schuester to look over at her. "Yes Brittany?"

"I have a suggestion." Brittany quickly looked over to Mr. Schuester and Marley. "I was thinking maybe the seniors could get a number for Nationals. Since this is our last competition ever."

"I like the idea." Marley quickly agreed. Mr. Schuester thought for a moment then nodded his head.

"All right. Good idea Brittany." Mr. Schuester smiled proudly at the cheerleader for diffusing the situation. "Brittany, choose the song for the seniors to sing, then split the song equally amongst yourselves." Marley and Brittany looked at one another but Tina had an idea on how to possibly change Mr. Schuester's mind on letting Marley shine.

"Mr. Schuester, I'd like to hear an original song from Marley right now. I mean, we are putting our life basically in her hands." Tina shrugged her shoulders, innocently looking over at Mr. Schuester.

"Go for it, Marley." Jake encouraged her. Marley looked at Mr. Schuester then at Jake, then emitted a confident smile.

"All right then." Marley got up from the chair, heading to the front of the room, taking a deep breath then letting it out. "You said that you wanted inspiring…here's a song that I wrote last year that was in the folder of songs I'd probably never get a chance to sing but yet I liked…" Marley looked to the band that started to play the music as Marley sang in her angelic voice. New Directions was easily impressed with Marley's song—everyone except for Tina that was.

It's easy to feel like you're all alone  
To feel like nobody knows  
The great that you are, the good that's inside you  
Is trying so hard to breakthrough

Maybe it's your time to lift off and fly  
You won't know if you never try  
I will be there with you all of the way  
You'll be fine

Don't let anyone tell you that you're not strong enough  
Don't give up, there's nothing wrong with just being yourself  
That's more than enough  
So come on and raise your voice  
Speak your mind and make some noise  
And sing, hey, hey  
Make some noise  
Hey, hey yeah

You can't just sit back and watch the world change  
What matters what you've got to say  
There's no one else who can stand in your place  
So come on, it's never too late

Maybe it's your time to lift off and fly  
You won't know if you never try

Don't let anyone tell you that you're not strong enough  
Don't give up, there's nothing wrong with just being yourself  
That's more than enough  
So come on and raise your voice  
Speak your mind and make some noise  
And sing hey, hey  
Make some noise  
Hey, hey yeah

Hey, hey

[New Directions]  
Make some noise

[Marley]  
Speak your mind and make some noise  
And sing…

[Marley with New Directions]  
Hey, yeah  
Hey, yeah  
Hey, yeah  
Make some noise

Hey, hey  
Make some noise

[Marley]  
Speak your mind and make some noise

As soon as Marley finished her song, everyone in Glee Club (minus Tina) stood up and started clapping for her. Marley let out a wide grin, while looking at Jake, who gave her a thumbs up. Marley finally found the confidence to do her songs—and she only had two weeks to write one that was just as inspiring for Nationals. Tina however, wasn't amused. _There has to be some way to get Marley out of my hair so that I can shine, _Tina thought for a moment. She looked over to Jake, Ryder and Kitty, her vision sighting in on both Jake and Kitty, then Marley and Ryder as an idea popped into her head. _And I know just how to do it…_

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Love Alone by Katelyn Tarver (Sung by Marley Rose), All You Ever by Hunter Hayes (Sung by Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel), Make Some Noise by Hannah Montana [Miley Cyrus] (Sung by Marley Rose)_


	49. Finchel: Stop The World

**_A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Rachel and Finn eloped and Santana and Kurt aren't too happy about it. Blaine had his audition along with Kurt for NYADA but neither of them are sure they got in. Marley got the opportunity to write an original song for Nationals and Tina is jealous that Marley gets to take the spotlight. Tina's probably planning something bad. Wow. And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did. **

**Note: I would like to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. Because of you guys, this story has 200+ reviews, the msot reviews that any story I've written has gotten! So thank you all so much! If there's a song that you'd like me to use that relates to any of the characters that you'd like to see, don't hesitate to either review or PM me. I've also been thinking of having a sequel to this story and if there were, there would be a cliffhanger. You could PM me if you want the sequel to happen and if you do want the sequel, which couple/character would you like to see have a cliffhanger and what would you want to happen to the couple/character? Anyway, thank you all so, so, so, so much and here is the next chapter of _Nobody Said It Was Easy_. Enjoy!**

* * *

"I've been checking the mail every day since my audition and still, there's no letter from Carmen Tibideaux there." Kurt entered the kitchen while Rachel, Finn and Santana stared over at him. "I'm beginning to think that Blaine and I tanked the audition by singing a country song."

"Kurt…you do know that it's only Monday and that your audition was Friday, right?" Santana pointed out. Kurt looked over at Santana as she shrugged her shoulders. "It's true. I mean, no one sends acceptance or rejection letters that early."

"And how would you know so much about that, Santana?" Kurt sounded almost stressed out.

"Maybe because Santana knows the process like everyone else." Finn looked down at his newspaper, avoiding his brother's gaze. "You need to relax Kurt." Kurt continued to look over at Finn as he let out a sigh. Kurt knew Finn was still mad at him because he told Carole about Finn running off to get married.

"Finn, I know you're still upset with me but what else did you want me to do when I found out the news." Kurt defended himself.

"Maybe not go and run off and tell mom and Burt. I mean, come on. Now they're going to try to throw everything in our direction to see if we're capable of being married. I still have three years of school left before I can get my teaching degree from NYADA and then I have to actually find a job." Finn sounded overwhelmed.

"Yeah, and if Burt and Carole know then imagine who else might know." Santana added. Rachel and Finn eyed Santana, raising their eyebrows in concern.

"And who else might possibly know Santana?" Finn sounded a bit concerned. Santana looked to Finn and Rachel, shrugging her shoulders.

"It's not like I told Brittany or anything…" Santana looked away from Finn and Rachel, seeing Finn's face twist in anger.

"You told _Brittany?!_" Finn yelled.

"I love Brittany, Santana you know I do, but she's not going to be able to keep a secret." Rachel added.

"Brittany would never tell anyone. Don't worry, your secret is safe from everyone else in the Glee Club." Santana assured them, going back to her food.

* * *

"What do you mean Rachel and Finn are married?" Tina sounded shocked while Brittany had the Glee Club members in the room.

"That's what Santana told me. She wanted me to tell you guys so that you would all know." Brittany let out a smile.

"Wait, but I thought they were having a wedding after school ended." Ryder said.

"Well, apparently they decided to get hitched in City Hall." Brittany shrugged her shoulders, not sure why everyone was so surprised.

"Look, if Rachel and Finn are married then what else can we possibly do?" Kitty pointed towards the other members. "I mean, it's their business and not ours."

"Kitty? Who are you and what have you done with the real Kitty?" Ryder became concerned.

"I've been reading sensitivity magazines. Can't blame me there." Kitty rolled her eyes, looking down at her phone.

"Well, if they're married and happy then that's all that matters, right?" Marley asked.

"Who's happy and married?" A voice behind them said. Everyone in Glee Club turned around to find Mr. Schuester standing there with some papers in hand. Tina shot Marley a look as if it was her fault that Mr. Schuester now was about to know the secret.

"Um…" Tina started to say.

"Finn and Rachel." Brittany smiled an innocent smile towards her teacher. Everyone shot a look at Brittany then back at Mr. Schuester who's face looked quite confused.

"But I thought they were getting married at the end of the school year. I got my invitation in the mail and everything." Mr. Schuester was still trying to process everything.

"Santana told me that Finn and Rachel went to City Hall and got married. Isn't that like amazing?" Brittany wondered.

"They paid $100 to have a quickie wedding? I don't know Brittany; wouldn't you want to have your family and friends there on your big day? What could have made them want to do this out of the blue?" Mr. Schuester became concerned. Finn and Rachel never struck him as the couple that would become spontaneous and do something like marry one another out of the blue. Frankly Mr. Schuester was disappointed. "I'll call Finn and talk to him later about it. Right now, we have to discuss Nationals. Did we decide on a set list yet?"

"I chose for the seniors to do 'Good Time' by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen." Brittany raised her hand, letting out a smile.

"My god, Carly Rae Jepsen isn't a one hit wonder yet?" Kitty blurted out looking over at Brittany.

"What's wrong with Carly Rae Jepsen?" Marley wondered.

"One thing, the song 'Call Me Maybe' sounds like a poem written by two fourteen year olds who are barely out of middle school. Seriously, that song makes Taylor Swift bashing her boyfriend's sound more legit." Kitty shrugged her shoulders.

"Well we're doing 'Good Time' because it's an awesome song." Brittany smiled as Mr. Schuester nodded his head. As the other students were talking about Nationals, Blaine entered the room staring over at Mr. Schuester.

"So, how did it feel to be in NYC, living with a married couple?" Kitty gave Blaine a fake sweet smile, causing the other members to look at Blaine.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting it…it was a spur of the moment thing." Blaine sat down in the seat next to Artie as Artie looked up at Brittany.

"Brittany said we're doing 'Good Time' as a senior member. Also, Marley's doing an original song." Artie filled Blaine in.

"Really? That's fantastic, Marley." Blaine looked over to Marley who let out a grin.

"All right, let's get to work." Mr. Schuester clapped his hands, causing the students to turn to him. "Now, we have to be great if we're going to beat our competition."

"Who exactly is our competition again?" Marley raised her hand to ask. She remembered Mr. Schuster telling them after Regionals, but everything was so hectic since then.

"The Hoosierdaddies and The Starlight Knights." Tina coldly answered. Jake and Ryder raised an eyebrow towards Tina, beginning to get tired of Tina's attitude towards Marley.

"All right, let's get to work. The Hoosierdaddies have a powerhouse diva named Frida Romero and from what I'm hearing, she's good." Mr. Schuester began to write on the board.

"How do you know this?" Artie asked.

"Because I saw video of The Hoosierdaddies at their Regionals the other day. Let's just say their rendition of '_I Will Survive / Survivor_' would blow Mercedes, Santana, Brittany and Sugar's rendition out of the water…and Mercedes and Santana are true divas." Mr. Schuester said.

"Wait, they copied our songs?" Brittany wondered.

"Apparently they were inspired by us." Mr. Schuester looked back to the board, writing down the word 'set-list'. "All right, we've got 'Good Time', 'Marley's Original Composition' and we still need one more song…"

"Mr. Schuester…when are we going to New York City for Nationals?" Marley asked, raising her hand.

"We're going this weekend. Is something wrong?" Mr. Schuester asked.

"I was wondering if I could have permission to work on the lyrics of the song with other members of the Glee Club. I feel the best way to write a good song is to talk about it with someone." Marley suggested.

"Of course Marley, did you have anyone in mind that you wanted to collaborate on the song with?" Mr. Schuester wondered.

"Finn and Rachel." Marley quickly answered, causing the other members to clap their hands.

"Rachel is good at writing songs when they don't have to do with her being an 'Only Child' or 'My Headband'." Artie looked to Marley, thinking it was a good idea.

"But 'My Headband' was the best song ever…" Brittany smiled at the thought of the song.

"Says the girl who wrote a song about a cup." Tina thought back to the memory, remembering everyone's expressions when Brittany, Artie and Puck sung it for the New Directions in New York.

"_My cup, my cup, saying what's up to my cup._" Brittany and Artie broke out into song, as Mr. Schuester couldn't help but chuckle.

"Did you guys eventually finish writing that song?" Sam wondered, looking at them.

"Puck said the song only oddly needed two verses. He either said that cause he liked it, or he didn't want to play guitar to it for another two minutes." Artie was deep in thought.

"Let's get to work guys. Let's think of that third song." Mr. Schuester clapped his hands, looking back at the board. For some reason, his mind wandered over to Rachel and Finn. What made them want to marry all of a sudden? There had to be more behind it.

* * *

Rachel stood in front of the gigantic living room mirror dressed almost as if she was Barbra Streisand, holding her oversize spotted coat close to her, her hair pinned up in a 60's hairdo. Rachel finished applying her red lipstick in the mirror, then started walking back and forth in the mirror, observing herself and tried to get into character. Rachel gave the mirror a sultry look, not noticing that Finn entered the living room, stifling a small chuckle.

"Hello, gorgeous." Finn spoke out in a badly faux British accent, causing Rachel to turn around to see her husband with his hand stuffed in his pockets and letting out a smile. Rachel suddenly became embarrassed and looked away, blushing heavily.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were at school finishing _Les Mis_. Tomorrow is Opening Night, you know…" Rachel continued to blush as Finn walked forward and wrapped his arms around Rachel.

"Everything's perfect. I think I'll be fine." Finn smiled. He then pressed a kiss to Rachel's cheek, but Rachel placed kisses on Finn's neck as he chuckled. "Rach, you're getting red lipstick on my neck."

"And that's a bad thing?" Rachel raised an eyebrow, as Finn pressed his forehead to hers.

"I love you…" Finn muttered, unpinning Rachel's long hair as it fell messily along her face.

"I love you." Rachel repeated, giving Finn a passionate kiss. Finn and Rachel were interrupted by a knock at the door, turning their heads. Finn let out a sigh, unwillingly parting from Rachel.

"I'll get the door." Finn went over to open the door, and as soon as he did, his eyes widened in shock. It was one other than LeRoy and Hiram Berry—Rachel's fathers! "Mr. and Mr. Berry? What are you doing here?!"

"I think the better question is…why do you have red lipstick all over your neck?" Hiram asked, pointing to Finn's neck. Finn took one of his hands and started to touch his neck, realizing that he still had makeup on him from when Rachel kissed him. LeRoy and Hiram took a closer look at Finn, realizing that his hand had a wedding band on, causing Finn to look at them with slight admittance.

"Finn, why are you wearing a wedding band on your hand?" LeRoy spoke in an almost accusatory tone. Finn looked down at his hand then back at Rachel's fathers. All right, Finn was going to do this. He was going to tell them the truth.

"I am wearing a wedding band because…because…because I'm married." Finn let out a sigh, telling the truth.

"Aren't you a little too young to be married?" Hiram questioned.

"Yes, eighteen is an awfully young age to be married." LeRoy added.

"Do you mind if I ask who your bride is? I mean, we would like to meet her." Hiram pressed Finn. Finn stammered for a moment, feeling uncomfortable. Then as if a miracle happened, Rachel appeared wearing a black V-neck sweater, blue jeans, knee high boots, her brown hair down with her bangs in front and wearing eyeliner. Hiram and LeRoy immediately looked at Rachel's hand to spot a wedding band on her hand. Their faces turned serious, looking at Finn and Rachel, knowing who Finn's bride was—their young daughter, Rachel.

* * *

"You got MARRIED?!" Hiram shouted in the living room of the apartment as Finn and Rachel sat on the sofa, letting them get their feelings out in the air.

"Rachel, what were you thinking? You're only eighteen!" LeRoy added.

"What happened to your dreams of Broadway?! I mean you can't do that with a man holding you down, Rachel!" Hiram yelled.

"How could you do something so irresponsible?" LeRoy charged in.

"We've never been so disappointed in you in our entire lives." Hiram shook his head.

"SHUT IT!" Rachel finally yelled after she couldn't take any more of the yelling. LeRoy, Hiram and Finn all stared at Rachel with wide eyes, unsure if Rachel had just told her parents to shut up.

"Rachel…" Finn looked up at her but she shook her head.

"You're coming into my house and questioning my decisions?" Rachel continued to stare at her fathers. "I could understand if you're yelling at me like I'm five in your home, but you're in my home. You stopped having authority over me when I moved out and came to New York."

"Rachel, we just didn't think that you were going to do something as stupid as getting married." LeRoy said firmly.

"So loving Finn is stupid? Being in love in New York City is stupid? Being _happy_ for the first time in my life is STUPID?! Finn is what completes me, and I love him. I'd do everything in my power to make sure he's happy…and he does the same thing for me." Rachel continued to stare at her dads but Hiram looked towards Rachel in confusion.

"But Rachel…what about _Funny Girl_? You're going to be focusing on the musical so you won't have any time for Finn." Hiram crossed his arms, staring over at his daughter.

"And what if I told you it was because of Finn that I'm still in _Funny Girl_?" Rachel asked, continuing to look at her fathers. "If it weren't for Finn getting the director to take out the topless scene, I wouldn't be in Funny Girl. I don't know if I told you this but I was also raped by a Warbler before Sectionals! Finn was the one that had the jackass arrested because he outsmarted him! Finn was there for me! Where were you two?! WHERE WERE YOU?! Oh right…you were busy trying to control my life on who I get to see and what I get to do while I'm out of your house and into my own. I get it. You're not happy that I'm growing up in NYC. You hate I'm sexually active to a man I love. You hate Finn because you feel like he's taking me away from you. The real issue is you're the ones pulling me away from you. Not Finn. I'm through listening to you. I'm staying married to Finn, and there's nothing that you can do or say about it!" Rachel turned around and headed out of the loft door as Finn continued to stare at Rachel in sadness. Finn looked down at his wedding band, then staring back up at LeRoy and Hiram. Finn took that moment to stand up and follow Rachel out the door, leaving her father's in the living room to think about Rachel's words.

* * *

Finn entered the NYADA auditorium, seeing Rachel sitting in the front row of the auditorium while blankly looking at the stage. He headed over to her, then sat in the seat next to her as they looked at the front of the auditorium in silence. Finn looked over to Rachel, seeing that she had a serious face as she was processing everything that just happened.

"I have no idea what came over me, back there…" Rachel spoke softly. Finn looked at her as he waited for her to continue to speak. "I've been mad at my dad's before but I've never told them to shut up…I've never been so frustrated and angry with them. When will everyone realize that I'm choosing you to love for the rest of my life…yet they want to come in here and explain to me what I'm doing is wrong. If that's the case, then wasn't them getting married young the same thing?"

"Wait, they got married young?" Finn wondered.

"Oh yeah, they did. They didn't tell you that part which makes them sound like complete hypocrites." Rachel continued to stare at the front of the auditorium as Finn wrapped an arm around her.

"You seemed a little defensive back at the house…was everything okay?" Finn questioned. Rachel released a deep breath, looking at Finn sadly.

"I was just afraid that you were going to give in to my dad's demands and actually think about annulling the marriage." Rachel revealed. Finn shook his head, giving Rachel a serious glance.

"Rachel, I give into a lot of things, I admit…but I would never give in on something that means so much to me…you mean the world to me and I wouldn't give up on you even if the sky was falling down, there's a gigantic flood or if there was a Mayan Apocalypse. Just like Jason Mraz says, 'I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough, I'm giving you all my love, I'm still looking up." Hearing those lyrics caused Rachel to slightly smile as Finn smiled back at her.

"I'm actually touched you remembered 'I Won't Give Up'." Rachel chuckled.

"Well, remember when we were cuddling in your room last year, it came on the radio and you said, 'Oh my gosh, I love this song. We have to sing this song together sometime, Finn.' We never did get to sing it, but it was still a beautiful song. I listened to it for hours when I went home, realizing the beauty in the lyrics. That song became ten thousand times more beautiful—because you were the one that showed it to me." Rachel continued to stare at Finn with a wide grin, which made his smile widen. He was glad he was able to make her smile again.

"This was the reason I married you and love you." Rachel put a hand on Finn's cheek, Finn putting his forehead on hers. "Thank you for following me all the way here in order to talk to me."

"Anything for you Rachel, anything…" Finn pressed a kiss to Rachel's lips as she deepened the kiss. As they parted, Finn let out a slight chuckle. "By the way you owe me $2.50 for a MetroCard." Rachel simply laughed at Finn's joking then kissed him once more. They looked back at the empty stage, then towards each other as Rachel got up from the chair and walked to the stage.

"You know, when we were by ourselves, it kind of felt like the world was just two of us…"Rachel circled around the stage, then back at Finn. "Sometimes I wouldn't mind the world being the two of us…we'd be alone that way."

"Well, I don't know about you…" Finn got up from the chair and walked on the stage to face Rachel. "But you are my world…and every time I look at you, it feels like the world is just us two."

"Okay, you really need to stop being so poetic." Rachel joked as Finn grabbed her hand. "But seriously when it's just me and you, there's no one telling us that we're too young or what we did was stupid. I know what I did my heart was right." Finn looked at her then walked over to grab one of the guitars from the rack of instruments. "What are you doing?" Rachel giggled slightly.

"We're going to sing our feelings, like we always did during Glee Club. You say you want the world to just be us, so I'm giving you that chance right now. Sing with me." Finn smiled. Rachel gave Finn a smile then nodded her head. Finn started playing the guitar as Rachel started dancing around the auditorium with Finn giving a wide smile. He loved seeing the different sides of Rachel, but the one where she was carefree and dancing around was the best.

[Rachel]  
I don't know why  
I don't know why, I'm so afraid  
I don't know how  
I don't know how, to fix the pain  
We're living a lie  
Living a lie, this needs to change  
We're out of time  
We're out of time, and it's still the same

We can't stop the world (with Finn: But there's so much more that we can do)  
You can't stop this girl (with Finn: From falling more in love with you)

[Rachel and Finn]  
You said nobody has to know  
Give us time to grow and take it slow

[Rachel]  
But I'd stop the world  
If it'd finally let us be alone

Let us be alone, oh, oh

[Rachel and Finn]  
I'm hearing the noise  
Hearing the noise, from all around  
I'm on the edge  
I'm on the edge, of breaking down

[Rachel]  
Like Bonnie and Clyde  
Let's find a ride and ditch this town  
To keep it alive  
Keep it alive, don't make a sound

We can't stop the world (with Finn: But there's so much more that we could do)  
You can't stop this girl (with Finn: From falling more in love with you)

[Rachel and Finn]  
You said nobody has to know  
Give us time to grow and take it slow

[Rachel]  
But I'd stop the world

[Rachel and Finn]  
If it'd finally let us be alone

[Rachel]  
I never wanna take that final look  
I'll turn another page, won't close the book

We can't stop the world (with Finn: But there's so much more that we could do)  
You can't stop this girl (with Finn: From falling more in love with you)

[Rachel and Finn]  
You said nobody has to know  
Give us time to grow and take it slow

[Rachel]  
But I'd stop the world

[Finn and Rachel]  
If it'd finally let us be alone

[Rachel]  
Let us be alone, oh, oh, oh  
Let us be alone, oh, oh

[Rachel and Finn]  
Let us be alone, whoa, oh, oh

As soon as the song finished, Rachel and Finn eyed one another with a wide grin. That was when Rachel knew that Finn would never give her up for as long as he lived. They would be together for the rest of their lives, and nothing would stop them. Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn as Finn placed a reassuring hand on her back, rubbing his hand soothingly on her backside.

"Thank you Finn…for everything…" Rachel looked back up at Finn, then placed a kiss on his lips. Finn parted from the kiss to look at Rachel then smiled at her.

"Come on, let's go and get something to eat." Finn put the guitar back on the rack as he grabbed Rachel's hand. "We have a long day tomorrow."

"Right…_Les Mis _and _Funny Girl_." Rachel remembered, feeling her stomach turn into knots. Finn could tell from Rachel's expression that she was frightened.

"Rachel, you're going to be fine…I promise." Finn assured her with a soothing tone. Finn wrapped his arm around Rachel as they exited the room, holding one another's hand.

* * *

As they got back to the apartment, they realized Kurt and Santana were sitting down on the sofa staring at Finn and Rachel. Rachel and Finn looked at their friends then sat down on the couch next to them. As Santana and Kurt continued to look at Rachel and Finn, the two young newlyweds were becoming frustrated.

"What is it?" Finn shook his head, not sure why there was attention towards them.

"Rachel's dads came and said they would come back tomorrow to see Rachel on Broadway…but they seemed like they were almost sad about something. Is something bothering them?" Kurt wondered. Rachel and Finn eyed one another then shook their heads, getting up and going to the room. Rachel closed the door behind her as Finn lay on the bed.

"Now they're trying to make me feel guilty! I don't think so. I'm choosing you and that is that. This is turning out like the biopic of _Selena_ where she wants to get married to Chris and her father wouldn't let them be together."

"Who?" Finn raised his eyebrow towards Rachel.

"I'll explain it to you later." Rachel waved her hand dismissively then sat down next to Finn. "Honestly Finn, I don't think they're ever going to be _okay_ with it."

"Well Rachel…forget them. Because now it's me and you against the world…and we're going to win. Okay?" Finn assured her. Rachel lay next to Finn as he wrapped his arm around her, pressing kisses on her neck.

"You're right…and you're all I need…" Rachel let out a sigh as she felt herself becoming sleepy. Rachel had been through a lot the last couple of days and tomorrow was going to be a big day for her. Tomorrow she would be on Broadway, playing the iconic role of Fanny Brice on Broadway…and luckily she had a surprise for Finn up her sleeve.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Stop The World by Demi Lovato (Sung by Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson)_


	50. OPENING NIGHT

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Rachel's fathers found out about Rachel and Finn getting married and Rachel actually spoke back to them saying she wasn't going to give Finn up. Brittany told the Glee Club that Rachel and Finn were married which surprised everyone, including Mr. Schue. Also, New Directions finds out their competition is the Hoosierdaddies, who has a powerful, powerful singing voice according to Mr. Schuester. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did.**

**Note: Here we are! It's Opening Night for _Funny Girl_ and _Les Miserables! _I was inspired by a chapter in FinchelFan728's story "Their Gold Star" where Rachel meets someone. Make sure to read FinchelFan728's stories because they are simply fantastic. :) Now, onto _Opening Night!_**

* * *

Today was the day. Tonight was Rachel's Broadway debut of _Funny Girl_. It was also Finn's directorial debut of _Les Miserables_. If either of them said that they weren't nervous, they would both be lying. Rachel sat down at the kitchen table, staring down at her French toast and coffee with a newspaper on the side. Rachel's mind wasn't only on her Broadway debut. She was also worried about her fathers. Rachel had time to cool down after yelling at them yesterday, but she couldn't help but feel guilt. In their own crazy way, maybe they were right. Maybe Rachel was a little too young to be married—but she wasn't going to annul the marriage now. She wanted to marry Finn since the day she met him. She was just going to have to assure herself that everything was going to be fine and that she made the right decision. Rachel snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something fall and heard someone mutter a curse word. Rachel looked out of the kitchen, seeing Finn cursing under his breath as he picked up what he dropped from the closet. Rachel walked over to Finn, helping him pick up the things that fell out of the closet while eying him. Rachel could see it in Finn's eyes; he was extremely stressed about his directorial debut.

"Finn." Rachel simply said. Finn looked up at Rachel as she observed that he had bags under his eyes. Rachel rubbed his back with her hand as she continued to stare at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, never better." Finn lied, looking back at Rachel. Rachel let out a sigh, then pressed a kiss on his forehead.

"You know I don't like it when you're not honest…" Rachel noticed Finn relenting as he sighed.

"Rachel, I've never been more scared in my entire life." Finn admitted.

"Oh come on Finn…you? Scared?" Rachel spoke in a soft tone. "You've never been scared of anything."

"Well, I'm not as scared as I am at the thought of losing you but this scared is a close second." Finn continued to look in Rachel's eyes.

"Well I promise you that you're going to be fine. The kids all think that it's fantastic. They think you're a true visionary. You're special Finn…and tonight everyone is going to see it when you put your twist on _Les Miserables._" Rachel's words calmed Finn for a moment as he released a sigh. However, Finn's nerves would become hectic once again when Kurt entered the room with his iPad.

"Hey, Finn. You are not going to believe this." Kurt showed Finn the screen and in almost a moment, Finn started hyperventilating.

"What? What is it?!" Rachel became concerned, grabbing the iPad from Kurt and reading it. "So people are going to review it, big deal?"

"Rachel! I can't do this! I just can't do this!" Finn started saying he couldn't do it over and over. Kurt looked at Rachel for a moment, then let out a sigh.

"Sorry about this, Rachel." Kurt apologized then slapped Finn across the face, causing Finn and Rachel to look up in shock.

"OUCH!" Finn yelled, putting his hand on his cheek. "Was a new year in the Chinese Calendar, the 'Year of the Slap'?!"

"Finn! In High School you were the starting quarterback! You faced more danger out there than you will in an auditorium. You're going to be fine, and do you know why?" Kurt questioned as Finn shook his head. The doorbell rang before Kurt could finish his sentence, causing Rachel to get up from her position to get the door. Rachel opened the door and spotted Quinn standing there with her arms folded, giving Rachel a serious look.

"Quinn? What are you doing here?" Rachel looked back at Finn and Kurt then towards her friend.

"I was just in town to see Finn's production of _Les Mis_ when Kurt skyped the entire alumni telling us that you and Finn were married." Quinn raised an eyebrow to Rachel.

"KURT!" Finn turned his head to his brother as Kurt sighed.

"Well, they were going to find out eventually." Kurt defended himself.

"Could you let _us_ tell them? After all, we were the ones that were married." Finn sounded slightly annoyed, forgetting the fact that he was worried about his _Les Mis_ assignment.

"Well, I thought I should let you know that I'm not mad you went ahead and got married." Quinn's face softened towards Finn and Rachel.

"But let me guess, you're disappointed that we didn't want to share this joyous moment with our friends and family." Finn sighed.

"Yeah, how did you know I was going to say that?" Quinn questioned.

"Finn's mother gave him the same talk." Rachel explained.

"But we promise after school is over, we're going to hold an official ceremony in Lima where all of our friends and family can witness this joyous occasion." Finn hoped it would be the end of the conversation.

"Well, that's good." Quinn smiled then turned to Rachel. "Rachel, you might want to get a move on. I heard you're starring in _Funny Girl_ today?" Rachel suddenly became slightly nervous, looking over to Finn and Kurt. Quinn put a hand on Rachel's shoulder, giving her friend a small smile. "You're going to be fine, I promise. You're a star, Rachel. Everyone knows that." Rachel looked at Quinn with a smile, giving her a hug.

"Well, I better get ready—and you should try to keep Finn from hyperventilating again." Rachel slightly joked, looking over to Finn. Finn let out a smirk towards his love as Rachel walked past him, patting Finn's head playfully as if he was a dog in the process. Finn watched the bathroom door close as he looked back to Quinn and Kurt. This was going to be one long day.

* * *

Rachel sat in her dressing room after getting the finishing touches on her makeup, staring into the mirror with a nervous sigh. Rachel heard the door knock as she headed over to get it, opening the door and seeing a woman with a bunch of roses standing there.

"Rachel Berry?" The woman asked. Rachel quickly nodded her head as the woman handed her the bunch of roses. "They're from someone named Finn Hudson. There's a card along with it."

"Thank you very much." Rachel looked at the card as the woman left. Rachel continued to read the card as a smile plastered across her face:

_I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person but break a leg. I love you and I am so proud of you, my beautiful shining star. Go get them, Rachel Berry  
_

_XOXO, Finn_

Rachel was more than touched because by her name, Finn put a gold star sticker to resemble what she would do when she wrote her name on a piece of paper in High School. Rachel felt tears in her eyes as she continued to look at the card, thinking how simply wonderful Finn had been towards her. He was supporting her and her dreams. That was when Rachel had an idea on how to give Finn the greatest gift of all. Rachel exited her dressing room and went to go find Bryan Murphy, hoping that he would be more than willing to hear her out.

* * *

Back at NYADA, Finn took a deep breath, sitting next to his teacher, Mrs. Martinez who had a pen and paper; ready to grade everyone's performance, including Finn's. Finn turned around to see his friends Mike, Mercedes, Quinn, Santana and Kurt with the audience. The performance was just about to start—until Finn felt his phone vibrate. Finn looked down the phone to see a text from Rachel, seeing that she sounded as if she was in distress.

_I can't do this Finn. _

_Rachel_

Finn continued to look at the text message then turned to his teacher. She looked over at Finn, then gave a soft smile.

"Your new wife?" Mrs. Martinez simply asked.

"Yeah, she's on Broadway tonight and she's freaking out." Finn sighed. Mrs. Martinez looked around then nodded her head.

"Go to her." Mrs. Martinez said. Finn continued to stare over at her to see if she was serious and after pinpointing that she was serious, he let out a grin.

"Really?" Finn asked.

"Really. It's her first gig. She needs support." Mrs. Martinez assured him. "Just be back in time for the second act." Finn continued to smile at the teacher as he got up from his seat and started heading towards the exit of the auditorium.

"Finn, where the hell are you going?" Santana whispered harshly to her friend.

"Rachel needs me." Finn simply said then headed out the auditorium door. Everyone looked at one another, then back towards the exit of the auditorium. Little did Finn know that Carmen Tibideaux saw Finn's exchange between his teacher and his friends, and she had a smile on her face.

As Finn started heading towards the lobby of the school to leave, he heard someone clear their throat, causing Finn to become confused. Finn was prepared if it happened to be Brody, or possibly Cassandra giving him a snarky attitude…but when Finn turned around, he saw none other than Rachel standing before him with a grin. Finn continued to look confused towards her, as Rachel walked to him.

"Rachel…what…what are you doing here?" Finn looked disordered. "I mean…you're supposed to be on Broadway right now…on _Funny Girl_." Finn was cut off by a kiss from Rachel. Rachel parted, looking into Finn's eyes with a grin.

"I spoke with the director." Rachel promised. "He said as long as I get back in time for the end of the first act, then it would be fine."

"But Rachel, you don't have to…" Finn started to say but Rachel stopped him.

"I _wanted_ to. Okay? You're my husband and I love you. And as your wife, I came here to support you." Rachel sounded firm. Finn continued to look at Rachel, giving her a love-struck grin.

"I love you _so_ much, Rachel." Finn said. Rachel kissed Finn once more, intertwining her hands with his as they made their way towards the auditorium.

"Come on, I have to see part of my husband's masterpiece…" Rachel smiled. Finn looked to Rachel then nodded his head, following her into the auditorium with a grin. As Rachel and Finn made their way to their seats, the teacher let out a grin.

"Nice to see you, Rachel." Mrs. Martinez smiled.

"It's nice to see you too Mrs. Martinez." Rachel politely added, then let out a sigh.

"I thought you were on Broadway. That's what your husband was bragging about." Mrs. Martinez sent a playful smile towards Finn as Rachel nodded her head.

"I actually have to be back in about an hour and a half but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't catch at least a bit of Finn's directorial masterpiece." Rachel looked proudly towards Finn as Finn blushed heavily.

"Well then, I think Finn should return the favor once it's time for you to go. Marriage is a two way street after all. I tell that to my husband every day." Mrs. Martinez smiled towards Rachel and Finn.

"So you wouldn't mind just grading my performance without me sitting here?" Finn felt his heart almost jump.

"I most certainly can." Mrs. Martinez winked to Finn and Rachel then looked back at her notepad. Rachel patted Finn's hand as the curtains started to come up. _This is it, _Finn thought. _Showtime…_

* * *

The first hour of the performance seemed to have gone by so quickly. Rachel kept looking over at Mrs. Martinez, seeing that she was certainly enjoying the performance. When the audience laughed, she laughed. When the audience felt as if they were going to cry, she felt as if she was going to cry. She had barely written anything on Finn's final paper, which Rachel took as a great thing. The intermission came too quickly as everyone stood up from his or her seats and walked to the lobby to allow Finn's classmates to get into costume. Rachel held Finn's hand as they walked slowly out of the auditorium with a smile plastered on Rachel's face.

"Finn, I had no idea that you had it in you to make _Les Miserables_ so passionate. That was one of the best adaptions I've seen so far." Rachel grinned from ear to ear.

"Well, there's still the second half." Finn looked at his watch, then towards Rachel. "Speaking of second half…"

"I have to head over to the theatre to take my rightful place as Fanny Brice on Broadway." Rachel nodded her head. Rachel then gave Finn a wide grin as she pressed a kiss on his lips. "I am very proud of you, Finn. The proudest I've ever been of you in my entire life."

"I'm very proud of you too, Rachel." Finn looked to her. "I mean, you're going on Broadway. That's gigantic."

"But remember, there are the critics…" Rachel remembered, letting out a sigh.

"Listen to me…you're going to be fine. All right. I promise you…" Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel, pressing a kiss on her forehead. Rachel quickly nodded her head, walking with Finn out the door and to the theatre so they could catch the end of the first act of _Funny Girl_. Tonight, a star would be born.

* * *

Rachel and Finn rushed their way to the theatre as Rachel squeezed Finn's hand tightly. She then led Finn backstage, having him stand there as she got into costume just in time for her big number to end the first half. As Rachel left, Jesse walked over to Finn, looking with an almost panicked look.

"I'm glad to see Rachel could finally join us." Jesse looked stressed.

"Why you say that?" Finn questioned.

"Margaret is the worst Fanny Brice I have ever worked with, and I've done _Funny Girl_ in community theatre while I was at Carmel High with Vocal Adrenaline!" Jesse sounded panicked.

"The audience isn't enjoying Margaret very much?" Finn tried to stifle a chuckle.

"She's terrible. How is she the understudy to Rachel?" Jesse sounded almost disgusted. Before Finn could say another word, he heard a song that was all too familiar to Finn's ears. His eyes widened, seeing Rachel standing on the stage as Fanny Brice, singing the iconic song that she sung at New Directions first ever Sectionals—Don't Rain On My Parade.

_Don't tell me not live just sit and putter  
Life's candy and the sun's a bowl of butter  
Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade  
Don't tell me not to fly, I've simply got to  
If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you  
Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade_

_I'm marching my band out  
I'll beat my drum  
And if I'm fanned out  
You're turn at bat sir  
At least I didn't fake it  
Hat sir, I guess I didn't make it_

_But whether I'm the road of sheer perfection  
A freckle on the nose of life's complexion  
A cinder of the shiny apple of its eye  
I gotta fly once  
I gotta try once  
Only can die once, right sir  
Ooh lie is juicy  
Juicy and you see  
I've gotta have my bite sir_

_Get ready for me love but I'm a comer  
I simply gotta march, my hearts a drummer  
Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade!_

_I'm gonna win and win now  
Get what I want, I know how  
One roll for the whole shebang  
One throw that bell will go clang  
Eye on the target and wham  
One shot, one gunshot and BAM!_

_Hey Mr. Arnstein  
Here I am!_

_I'll march my band out  
I'll beat my drum  
And if I'm fanned out  
You're turn at bat sir  
At least I didn't fake it  
Hat sir, I guess I didn't make it  
Get ready for me love but I'm a comer  
I simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer  
Nobody, no, nobody  
Is gonna rain…on…my…parade!_

As soon as Rachel finished singing, the entire auditorium stood up from their seats and cheered madly for her. Rachel looked around, a smile appearing on her face. Rachel bowed, then got off the stage as the curtains closed for _Funny Girl's_ intermission. Finn and Jesse couldn't help but smile at Rachel, seeing that she had blew the audience away. As Rachel hugged Finn, Margaret walked over to Rachel, crossing her arms.

"What do you think you're doing?! You're wrecking the entire show!" Margaret screeched.

"Are you sure that wasn't you?" Jesse quipped, causing Rachel and Finn to stifle a chuckle.

"Once the reviews come in and say how bad Rachel Berry was, they will never give her a chance at showbiz ever again." Margaret schemed, then shoved her way past Rachel and Finn. Finn and Rachel turned their heads as Jesse shook his head.

"Don't worry about her." Jesse assured them. "She's a bit…high strung." Rachel and Finn turned around towards Jesse, nodding their heads.

"Well, she won't get my spotlight. I can assure you that." Rachel nodded. The bells began to ding as Rachel smiled. "Oh, I have to go back out there." Rachel pressed a kiss to Finns' cheek, then headed towards the stage with the others. Jesse hung back a moment, then looked into the auditorium. Jesse tapped Finn's shoulder, pointing to the seats as Finn looked on. Finn recognized the person in the seats, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he turned towards Jesse.

"Do you think that you could help me with something after the show?" Finn asked. Jesse looked over to the seats, quickly nodding his head.

"Gonna surprise Rachel?" Jesse asked.

"Yep." Finn nodded his head, releasing a grin.

"You got it." Jesse nodded his head, then headed over to the stage to take his place during the production of _Funny Girl_.

* * *

After the show, the curtain closed as Rachel headed towards her dressing room, releasing a wide grin. She had just finished her first show as Fanny Brice on Broadway. Rachel started unpinning the 60's hairdo from her hair when a knock at the door happened.

"Coming." Rachel headed towards the door and opened it to find Finn standing there with a grin.

"I am so proud of you, Rachel." Finn laughed with pride, engulfing her with a hug. Rachel breathed Finn's scent in as she pressed a kiss on his cheek.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the show." Rachel purred in Finn's ear. Finn chuckled, then turned back around towards the door.

"Oh, Rach there's someone that I want you to meet." Finn smiled. Rachel raised an eyebrow with a confused expression, until Finn motioned for the person to come in. Rachel's jaw almost dropped to the ground, seeing that it was none other than the woman who originally played Fanny Brice on Broadway, Barbra Streisand. Rachel stammered a moment, then turned to Finn, seeing that he was letting out a smile. "Rachel, meet Barbra Streisand. Barbra, this is the lovely, talented Rachel Hudson, oh but Rachel Berry is her stage name." Rachel blushed as Barbra continued to look at Rachel with a grin.

"Rachel, I have seen many productions of _Funny Girl_ in my life time—I've even seen the one from Carmel High six times although I am unsure why, but I must say the directors did a great job in casting you for Fanny Brice. You are a star and you have what it takes to be successful in this business." Barbra complimented Rachel. Rachel was almost star struck, looking over at her hero.

"If I could just say Mrs. Streisand it is an honor to meet you." Rachel continued to look at Barbra in a daze.

"And it's an honor to meet you as well." Barbra smiled to the young budding Broadway star. "Don't ever stop singing and doing Broadway, Rachel. You have a knack for it. Also…don't ever let go of this cutie over here." Barbra pointed to Finn, pinching one of Finn's cheeks in the process. Finn didn't say anything since he didn't want to be rude, but Barbra Streisand had some tough hands.

"I won't. I promise…and thank you so much." Rachel smiled.

"Thank you for entertaining me. Honestly, you were better than the understudy of Fanny…and I could see why she was the understudy. Oh, I must go. But thank you Rachel and I can't wait to come back to New York and see _Funny Girl_ with you as the lead again." Barbra politely made her way out as Rachel looked over to Finn.

"How did you do that?" Rachel pointed towards the door as Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't…_you_ did." Finn said. "With your talent, you were able to prove to your idol that you are something on Broadway." Rachel grinned at her husband, pressing a kiss on his cheek. "I love you Rachel and I don't think I could ever get tired of telling you how proud I am of you."

"Well, good. Because I need to hear it over and over sometimes." Rachel slightly joked.

"All right then. I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, very, extremely proud of you." Finn smiled widely. "Are you ready to go home?" Finn asked. Rachel nodded her head, but Finn and Rachel didn't get very far when they noticed Hiram and LeRoy standing in front of them. Finn became slightly protective over Rachel, something she noticed.

"It's okay, Finn." Rachel assured him. Rachel walked in front of Finn, staring at Hiram and LeRoy with a concerned look. "Is everything okay?"

"Rachel…" Hiram started, seeing that Rachel was still slightly confused.

"We just want to say that you were simply amazing tonight." LeRoy finished Hiram's sentence.

"That was the best performance of _Funny Girl_ I have ever seen." Hiram nodded his head towards his daughter.

"Wow, well…thank you." Rachel felt the awkwardness between them as she accepted their praise. They let out a sigh towards Rachel as LeRoy put a hand on Rachel's shoulder.

'Rachel, you know we love you right?" LeRoy asked. Rachel nodded her head to her fathers as LeRoy continued. "And we just wanted what was best for you…but the only person that truly knows what's best for you, is you."

"What we're trying to say is we're sorry…and if being with Finn makes you happy then we will support it." Hiram explained. Rachel felt the weight lifted off her shoulders, hearing that her father approved.

"There's just…one condition though." LeRoy put his hand up as Rachel and Finn looked towards LeRoy. "We…want you to have a real wedding…and we want to walk Rachel down the aisle as a way of giving her to you Finn. You truly love her more than anything and…we would be fools to keep her away from you." Finn nodded his head, turning back to Rachel who gave her father's ecstatic looks.

"Oh thank you. And I'm sorry that I yelled at you and made you feel like you weren't there for me." Rachel apologized.

"Rachel, you don't have to apologize." Hiram stopped her by putting a reassuring arm around his daughter. "Frankly if we were in your shoes, we would have done the same thing." Rachel felt her heart melt as her fathers continued to look at them.

"Oh, I was supposed to be back at NYADA by the end of the performance." Finn looked at his phone then back at Rachel. "Quinn said that the audience loves _Les Mis_."

"Well then lets' get back to NYADA." Rachel patted Finn's shoulder as Rachel's dads, Finn and Rachel left Rachel's dressing room.

* * *

Finn got back to NYADA just in time for the final curtain call, and seeing that everyone was standing and clapping, made it a success. Everyone turned around to eye Finn, as he suddenly became embarrassed, but what Finn didn't expect was everyone cheering wildly for him. Finn wasn't on stage, so why were they cheering him on?

"Finn, you might want to get up there!" Kurt told his brother. "They've been asking for you for the final curtain." Finn walked up to the stage in an instant while Rachel joined her friends in the stands.

"We're sorry we missed _Funny Girl, _Rachel." Quinn felt a little bad that Rachel was on her own.

"Don't worry." Rachel assured her friend. "Tonight is Finn's night." Rachel clapped wildly as she saw Finn bow with the rest of his classmates. Mrs. Martinez walked over to Rachel, giving her a grin.

"That was the best directed _Les Miserables_ I have seen in a long time." Mrs. Martinez beamed. "I wonder if Finn has considered being a director. I mean, he has the chops to be a teacher but being a director is something that he has the natural knack for."

"We could ask him what he thinks about it…" Rachel grinned.

"Well it was simply amazing. You should be proud." Mrs. Martinez then bid her farewells to Rachel and the gang as Rachel looked up at the stage to see Finn grinning from ear to ear. She was incredibly proud, there was no denying that.

* * *

"That was simply great, Finn…" Mercedes told Finn as the group of friends exited the auditorium.

"Yeah, I didn't know you had it in you to direct." Mike added, sounding impressed.

"Well, I had to ask Artie for a bit of help." Finn admitted, then cleared his throat. "Also it helped that I gained the respect of my classmates. To think when I first started my semester here, they all thought I was odd."

"Well if things were odd between you and your classmates then it didn't show." Kurt patted Finn's shoulder, giving him a grin. "Good job, Finn."

"Thanks guys." Finn sounded relieved that it was over, glad that the worst was behind him. Finn was about to say something else until he noticed a familiar figure standing on the corner of the street as they all exited the building. Finn looked over to Quinn who kept her eyes on the figure—it was none other than Puck.

"Hey, Puckerman!" Mike yelled as Puck looked to all of them.

"You missed Frankenteen's directorial debut of _Les Mis_." Santana then gave Puck a threatening glance. "The reason better be good."

"The train had a delay because of some traffic signals or something like that." Puck kept his eyes fixated on Quinn, but Quinn wasn't interested in listening to Puck right now.

"We might want to give them some privacy." Finn suggested as he, Rachel, Mike, Mercedes, Kurt and Santana made their way to the corner. "Hey, we're going to get pizza around the corner. You should meet us there." Finn yelled to Quinn and Puck. Quinn simply nodded but Puck continued to look over at her. The others walked around the corner towards the pizza parlor as Quinn looked away from Puck, not wanting to see him—or even talk to him.

"Quinn, we have to talk about this." Puck said as Quinn started to walk down the block, in an attempt to avoid him. "Why aren't you talking to me?"

"Excuse me?" Quinn turned around to face him, evident that she was furious. "I think the better question is why you stopped calling me, emailing me and decided to go on 'The Bachelor'. Puck what are you doing? This isn't like you!"

"Quinn, I realized I'm not good enough for you." Puck seriously said, causing Quinn to scoff.

"You're not good enough for me? Are you serious?" Quinn shook her head. "Puck, you need to stop with the pity party."

"It's true Quinn! I'm not good enough for you! It's evident! I'm not good enough for anyone here. You're at Yale, Finn's at NYADA, Rachel's on Broadway _and_ NYADA, Santana's teaching dance classes with some lady Finn keeps talking about as the root of all evil, Mercedes is at UCLA while recording, Mike's at Joffrey and Kurt's at Vogue. What am I doing? Cleaning pools, wondering when my life will begin? I'm a loser, Quinn and you deserve better."

"Puck…you're not a loser." Quinn's face softened. "You're lost right now…it's normal. Kurt and Brittany told me Santana was lost for a while—and now look at her. She's back on the right path, following her dreams, doing what she was born to do because she took a look in the mirror and decided that she didn't want to be lost anymore. We have to do the same for you. You're great at so many things Noah…but you just don't see it."

"Oh really? What am I so great at?" Puck sounded almost defeated as Quinn chuckled slightly.

"You can sing, you play a hell of a guitar, you're good at bringing motivation…apply for something in music, maybe start a band." Quinn suggested.

"But what's a band going to do? It would feel like I'm wasting my time." Puck shook his head.

"It's not wasting your time while you're trying to figure out what you want to do." Quinn told him. "You're destined for great things, Noah. Just remember…not everyone knows what they want to do as soon as they leave high school. It takes time." Puck looked at Quinn, then wrapped her into a hug. Quinn smiled, looking up at Puck with a grin. "So what was the deal with 'The Bachelor'?"

"Fakest show in the world." Puck let out a laugh. "I mean, all those girls said they were models and they all thought they were _the one_…but there's only one girl that I thought of my whole time there—and her name was Quinn Fabray." Quinn blushed, then pressed a kiss to Puck's lips. Puck and Quinn parted after a couple of moments as Quinn grabbed his hand.

"Come on, everyone's waiting for us at the pizza parlor—and I've always been interested in trying New York pizza." Puck chuckled, then walked along with Quinn, and for the first time in his life he didn't feel as lost, because he had Quinn guiding him through it all.

* * *

"Rachel, wake up!" Kurt ran into Rachel and Finn's bedroom the next morning, shaking Rachel vigorously. Rachel looked sleepily at Kurt, glaring over as if she was going to kill him.

"This better be good, Hummel." Rachel muttered.

"The reviews for _Funny Girl_ are in." Kurt stared at Rachel, seeing that she was wide-awake. Rachel quickly got out of bed, seeing her friends clamored in the kitchen reading the paper. Finn looked up at towards Rachel, motioning her towards him as Kurt started reading the review.

"Funny Girl_ took us on a whimsical journey as Fanny Brice married a wealthy originator named Nick Arnstein only to find out love isn't what it seems after Nick is arrested on an embezzlement charge. For the first half of the musical, I was wondering where did they get this woman to play Fanny Brice, and it wasn't a good thought. Her pitch was spot off; she didn't connect with Jesse St. James who played Arnstein in the musical. However, the show really began when a young star making her debut named Rachel Hudson (stage name Rachel Berry) took the stage. Once she started singing 'Don't Rain on My Parade', I knew that _she_ was the one born to play the lead of Fanny. As the second half took place, I was invigorated, stood on the edge of my seat watching young Rachel Berry command the attention of the audience. She had everyone mesmerized with her vocals, reminding us of a young Barbra Streisand. Her vocals were so magical that you begin to wonder if they were real or not. By the end of the musical, I was disappointed that it was over as I had enjoyed spending an evening watching the small town girl from Lima, Ohio shine under the bright lights of New York City. I will most definitely come back and watch Rachel Berry in _Funny Girl_ again, hoping that she's there from the beginning of the musical to the very end. Five Stars._"

After Kurt finished reading the review, Santana and Finn wrapped their arms around Rachel, engulfing her in a gigantic hug as Rachel felt tears stream down her cheeks. They loved her…the audience really loved her.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Finn noticed Rachel's tears as she tried to wipe them away. Rachel looked at Finn, then shook her head.

"I've worked all my life for this moment…and…to get my first perfect review means so much to me. I wasn't expecting to be that good. I…I guess what I'm trying to say is I have all of you guys to thank. I know I was a pain in the butt throughout high school…"

"You still are." Kurt slightly joked, causing Rachel to chuckle as she finished her thought.

"But…it means so much to me to have all of your support. I love you guys and, I wouldn't trade any of the time we shared together for the world. It's because of you guys that I'm where I am today, so thank you…" Rachel smiled as Finn wrapped her in a gigantic hug.

"And we love you too, Rachel." Finn said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"We love you Rachel, even if you sometimes are annoying." Mercedes chuckled as everyone gathered for a group hug. For the first time, in a long time Rachel had never felt so happy, being surrounded by her friends and her husband, knowing that they truly loved her. Everything seemed almost perfect in Rachel Berry, check, Rachel _Hudson's_ world.

* * *

Later that morning, Finn sat down in his theatre classroom, reading the ending of the book _Les Miserables_. As he closed the book, a smile flashed down at the book, before he looked up and noticed some of his classmates entering the room. The same kids that made fun of Finn the first day of school waved at him as Finn waved back.

"Hey Finn, why are you sitting all the way in the back?" The first kid wondered.

"Oh, I figured that I had to sit in the back." Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"Get over here." The second kid waved towards Finn as he got up from his chair and sat with his classmates. Finn finally found that he was accepted in his class, then looked over to see Ronald entering the classroom with a grin towards Finn.

"Hey Finn-mister." Ronald and Finn high fived as Finn beamed. "Saw the review for Rachel's performance for _Funny Girl_. She did great."

"Thanks Ronald." Finn smiled. After Ronald realized that he had no chance with Rachel, he started to try to become friends with Finn, and found that he didn't have to try so hard. Finn and Ronald were very different, but by the end of the year, they were good friends. "I can't believe this is the last day of school…" Finn sighed.

"I know, it's pretty depressing." Ronald shrugged. "Hey, but if you're still in New York this summer, maybe we can go to a baseball game or something?"

"I'd like that." Finn nodded his head, agreeing. Mrs. Martinez entered the room with what looked like a trophy in her hand. "Mrs. Martinez, what's the trophy for?" The class started to laugh, but Finn knew that they were being wholehearted about it, as Finn laughed along with them.

"Glad to see we still think Finn is funny." Mrs. Martinez looked at the class, chuckling at them. "Anyway, every year after a musical, we usually award a trophy to the MVP of the class. The person that put the most effort in this class and succeeded usually gets it."

"I got the trophy every year." Ronald slightly bragged.

"Yes, we remember that." Mrs. Martinez nodded. "Now, this was a unanimous vote amongst the class on who got the award this year. This year's theatre MVP is…Finn Hudson!" Finn looked towards everyone, making sure that he heard correctly. Did they say that he won MVP for the semester? "Get up here and accept your award, Finn." Mrs. Martinez motioned the trophy towards Finn. Finn got up from his chair as everyone started clapping for him. As Finn made his way to the front, he politely took the trophy from Mrs. Martinez and looked to his classmates.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to say a few words." Finn spoke, then looked to his classmates. "Wow, this is really an honor. You know, when I first started school I wasn't sure if I was going to even make it a couple of weeks before I decided NYADA was for me…but…seeing that everyone enjoyed _Les Miserables_ really made me feel proud. I mean, I had a chance to lead and it turned out great. But I can't take all the credit. You were the ones that went out there and put on the best damn show you possibly could, so I thank each and every one of you."

"You have to remember Finn…without a director there _is_ no show…so we should be the one's thanking _you_." One of the kids pointed to him. Finn smiled then looked at them.

"You're welcome guys…and thank you for making me feel oh so welcome. I now can't wait to come back next year." Finn continued to stare at the trophy as the class applauded Finn.

"All right, I guess that's it for theatre class. Have a great summer, everyone!" Mrs. Martinez clapped her hands as everyone got up from their seats and started heading out of the classroom. Finn went back to get his bag, then looked over to Mrs. Martinez. "I expect great things from you Finn. You're a very talented individual." Mrs. Martinez simply smiled, then walked out of the classroom as Finn thought about her words. Finn grabbed his backpack then headed out the door, finding Rachel standing there with a smile.

"So, I see you won MVP." Rachel pointed to the trophy as Finn chuckled.

"Yep, and I have you to thank." Finn said.

'Why are you thanking me? I didn't help you direct _Les Miserables_." Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"I know but…the first day of school I wanted to quit and you were the one that convinced me not to quit. You told me that everyone has a bad day, and I believed you. I was glad to believe you. Because of you I had the best year of my life." Finn smiled.

"Even the whole Cassandra and Brody nonsense?" Rachel chuckled.

"Eh…school had its moments. Oh, before we go home there's something I wanted to give you." Finn grabbed Rachel's hand and led her to the NYADA auditorium for the last time that school year. "Sit here." Rachel sat down at one of the seats as Finn got on the stage, turning to Rachel with a grin. "I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of telling you how much I love you, how proud you make me every day and how beautiful and special you are. You proved to the entire world that you were special last night…even though I already knew it. I knew you were special from the day I met you…and even if they had written a bad review about you, I would still be your number one fan…" Finn went over to grab the guitar as Rachel sat down, staring at Finn with a smile. "This is for you Rachel…"

The strands in your eyes  
That color them wonderful  
Stop me and steal my breath  
And emeralds from mountains  
Thrust towards the skies  
Never revealing their depth  
Tell me that we belong together  
Dress it up with the trappings of love  
I'll be captivated  
I'll hang from your lips  
Instead of the gallows of heartache  
That hang from above

And I'll be your crying shoulder  
I'll be love suicide  
And I'll be better when I'm older  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

And I've dropped out  
I've burned up  
I've fought my way back from the dead  
I've tuned in  
Turned on  
Remembered the things that you said

And I'll be your crying shoulder  
I'll be love suicide  
And I'll be better when I'm older  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

The greatest fan of your life

As soon as Finn finished singing, Rachel felt the tears stream down her cheek, giving Finn a gigantic grin. Finn got off the stage, wrapping Rachel in a tight hug as she wiped her tears. She looked up towards Finn, nodding her head with a smile.

"I'm your biggest fan too." Rachel said, pressing a kiss to Finn's cheek as Finn wiped her tears.

"I know you are…and it shows." Finn smiled. He then put the guitar down and grabbed Rachel's hand. "Come on, let's get out of here…"

"Why are you so excited to leave NYADA?" Rachel giggled as she and Finn started to exit the auditorium. Finn took one last look at the auditorium, thinking about how he wouldn't have to come back until September.

"Because…school's out for summer." _  
_

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Don't Rain On My Parade by Barbra Streisand [From Funny Girl] (Sung by Rachel Berry), I'll Be by Edwin McCain (Sung by Finn Hudson)_


	51. ND Alumni: We'll Be A Dream

**_A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Finn and Rachel had opening night for their performances and we could finally let out a sigh of relief because it went good. Finn was MVP of this theatre class, Rachel got a rave review for _Funny Girl_ and she met Barbra Streisand. Puck and Quinn got back together after Quinn offered to help him find his way. School's out for summer for the college kids, but now it's time to focus on Nationals! And that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

* * *

The William McKinley High auditorium was quiet and empty for the end of the week. The Glee Club wasn't due to start for another hour, meaning there was no music filling the halls, the classrooms, not even the building. Suddenly, footsteps ascended across the stage, revealing Puck, Mike and Finn looking at the empty seats. Puck had his guitar slanged behind his back, looking at Mike and Finn with a smirk.

"Home sweet home, right?" Puck slightly chuckled.

"You could say that…" Mike looked at Puck then looked towards Finn. Finn stuffed his hands in his pockets, staring at the empty seats. A lot had happened at McKinley the past year and Finn wasn't even a student anymore. He couldn't wait to help New Directions get ready for Nationals—and at the same time, prom. Finn had completely forgotten that New Directions was hosting prom on Friday night and he thought that maybe the alumni chose the wrong time to come and help their teammates. Finn looked over to Mike and Puck, becoming serious.

"Do you think that we'll help them shape up for Nationals and actually win it?" Finn asked.

"Of course, I mean…we can only dream right?" Puck nodded his head. Puck brought his guitar to the front, strumming it as (somehow and frightfully) the Glee band started playing drums and bass as Finn, Puck and Mike stared out on the stage. While singing, they were joined by Kurt, Quinn, Santana, Rachel and Mercedes as all the alumni stood on the stage, singing as if they were preparing for Nationals themselves, each of them giving one another a smile.

[Puck]  
Do you remember the nights we'd  
Stay up just laughing  
Smiling for hours at anything

[Puck and Finn]  
Remember the nights we  
Drove around crazy in love

[Puck, Mike and Finn]  
When the lights go out  
We'll be safe and sound  
We'll take control of the world  
Like it's all we have to hold onto  
And we'll be a dream

[Rachel and Quinn]  
Do you remember the nights we  
Made our way dreaming  
Hoping of being someone big

[Santana, Mercedes and Kurt]  
We were so young then  
We were too crazy in love

[Puck, Finn, Mike, Rachel, Quinn, Kurt, Mercedes and Santana]  
When the lights go out  
We'll be safe and sound  
We'll take control of the world  
Like It's all we have to hold onto  
And we'll be (Rachel: A dream!)

[Finn, Mike, Kurt and Puck]  
Oh, oh, oh, oh  
Woah, oh, oh, oh  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

[Finn, Mike, Puck and Rachel]  
Oh, oh, oh, oh  
Woah, oh, oh, oh  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

[Finn, Mike, Puck, Rachel, Kurt, Santana and Quinn] (Mercedes)  
When the lights go out (And when the lights go out)  
We'll be safe and sound (We'll be safe and sound)  
We'll take control of the world  
Like it's all we have to hold onto  
And we'll be (and we'll be)

When the lights go out (And when the lights go out)  
We'll be safe and sound  
We'll take control of the world  
Like it's all we have to hold onto  
And we'll be

[Rachel and Puck]  
A dream

As soon as the music finished, all of the alumni embraced, turning towards one another with huge smiles. They couldn't wait to surprise Mr. Schuester along with the New Directions with the fact that they were there for the rest of the week, even if it was three days. As they made their way to the choir room, they were in conversations about how their first year in college went, saying their accomplishments and the things they hoped to change for next year. However, Kurt wasn't sure if he had even gotten into the college of his choice. Kurt continued to walk along the halls with his friends, entering the choir room while surprised that no one was there.

"Where is everyone?" Santana asked. "I was expecting a grand entrance."

"How grand can you possibly want your entrance?" Kurt joked around, walking forward to take a seat. "They'll probably be here any minute."

"Fine, if that's what you think." Santana let out a sigh, turning over to find none other than Finn and Rachel, pressing kisses on each other's lips. Santana also found Puck and Quinn doing the same thing. "Yo, Finchel. Quick. Enough with the kissy faces." Santana snapped her fingers, which caused them to turn their heads in embarrassment. "But seriously, where is everyone?" As if on cue, Brittany entered the Glee room to find all of the alumni there. Santana noticed Brittany's face was far from her cheery self. Something happened. Something big.

"It's a good thing you guys are here." Brittany said, staring over at them.

"Brittany, what's going on?" Santana got up from her chair and headed over to Brittany with concern.

"Tina's planning something on how to get Marley out of the spotlight for Nationals." Brittany revealed. Santana raised her eyebrow as the other alumni stared at Brittany in shock.

"Are you sure we're talking about Tina here?" Mike asked, almost unsure.

"Yes, we're talking about Tina here." Brittany nodded her head, leading her friends towards the library where Marley was sitting by herself with a rhyming dictionary. Finn and Rachel had seen that look before.

"I'm gonna go find Tina and rip her vocal cords out." Santana shook her head as she started heading down the hallway. The other New Directions alumni followed Santana, but Rachel stopped Finn, pointing over to Marley who was still working on her song.

"We'll meet you there later." Finn said. The others nodded their heads, following Santana down the hall as Rachel and Finn entered the library. Marley looked up over her shoulder to spot none other than Finn and Rachel standing by her, her face lighting up with glee.

"Finn? Rachel? What are you two doing here?" Marley sounded excited.

"Well, we finished school for the summer…" Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"And my Broadway musical is a limited engagement meaning my next show is next week." Rachel continued to explain. "So we decided to fly in and see you guys at prom and Nationals."

"Right, prom…Nationals…" Marley grimaced slightly. She contemplated something then looked to Rachel and Finn. "Do you think Tina's upset with me since Mr. Schuester told me that I could do the original song for Nationals? She feels like I'm taking her spotlight."

"Oh, I don't know why they dubbed Blaine the 'New Rachel'. Tina should have been it instead." Finn joked, sitting in one of the chairs next to Marley.

"Hardy, har, har." Rachel sarcastically told her husband then sat in the other seat next to Marley. "Marley, if Mr. Schuester chose you to do the song, then you deserve it. Tina's just a little jealous."

"But she kept saying it was her chance to shine, and she wouldn't stop bugging me about it even during lunch yesterday." Marley looked to Rachel then to Finn, feeling helpless.

* * *

_Marley continued to look along the cafeteria line, hoping to see what was on the dessert table. Marley looked behind the counter to see her mother standing there, serving food to the other kids, turning to give her daughter a smile. Marley then focused her eyes on Jake, Ryder and Kitty who were all in line right behind her as they gave her small grins. Marley finally made it to the dessert table to spot pudding. Marley had her eye on the last Chocolate pudding since the girls ahead of her opted for Strawberry and Vanilla. Marley looked over to Jake as he nodded his head, assuring her that it was fine that she took the last one. Marley reached over for the pudding—until someone who skipped the entire line grabbed the pudding. Marley whiplashed, looking up to see Tina holding the pudding with a smirk. _

"_Tina, Marley was going to take that." Jake spoke with an annoyed tone._

"_Oh, she was?" Tina pretended to care. "Well, it looks like I get the pudding—unless Marley speaks to Mr. Schue and tells him that she should be in the background for Nationals." _

"_What?" Marley stammered a moment, then saw Tina smirking. _

"_She's not going to do that." Ryder cut in, staring at Tina._

"_I get you're being a bitch because you didn't get the solo, but maybe Marley got the solo because she doesn't sound nasally like you." Kitty crossed her arms, staring at Tina. _

"_I am not!" Tina stomped her foot, seeing that everyone else was becoming anxious._

"_Do you mind moving? The rest of us would like to sit down and eat lunch!" Someone yelled behind Kitty, Ryder, Jake and Marley. Tina continued to stare at them as she shrugged her shoulders. Tina then stuck her finger in the chocolate pudding, taking a lick of it as she walked away._

"_She stuck her finger in the chocolate pudding…and took it." Kitty mentioned the obvious. Marley walked away from Jake, Ryder and Kitty, heading out of the lunchroom, as Tina simply scoffed. _

"_Some people are so touchy." Tina remarked, then ate another bit of the pudding. _

* * *

"Wow, Tina really needs to get a reality check." Rachel shook her head after hearing Marley's story.

"You're story kind of makes me want to have pudding." Finn mumbled to himself.

"Finn, focus." Rachel snapped her fingers in front of his face as Marley let out a small smile, but her smile disappeared when she continued to think.

"I just think Tina's right. Maybe I'm not good enough to lead New Directions to Nationals." Marley sighed.

"Marley, you sang during Sectionals and Regionals." Rachel pointed out. "What makes Nationals any different?"

"Because if I singlehandedly mess up Nationals, then Tina, Brittany, Artie, Blaine and Sam are going to hate me." Marley revealed. "It would be my fault that we lost and this is their last competition."

"Marley, if there's one thing I learned from my years in show choir; it's that there's no I in team." Finn shrugged his shoulders, looking at Rachel. "New Directions wins as a team and New Directions loses as a team. It's not one person's fault when we lose. We lost Regionals our sophomore year, and we lost as a team. We lost Nationals our junior year—which was kind of my fault, but we lost as a team. The point is, win or lose, we're still a team and it could never be one person's fault." Marley listened intently at Finn's reasoning, nodding her head with a slight smile. "You're going to do great at Nationals, and I'm sure that the song you're writing will be fantastic."

"I just want the song to mean something. It's supposed to be inspiring…I just…I can't think of anything inspiring with Tina tearing me down." Marley sighed.

"Are you trying to prove something to Tina?" Rachel asked.

"That I'm tired of being invisible…that I'm a person…that I'm someone…_somebody_." Marley continued to say as Finn grabbed a piece of paper, writing everything Marley said. After a moment, Finn showed Marley and Rachel some of the writing that was on the paper, causing the girls to smile at Finn.

"Finn, that's perfect." Rachel slightly gasped as Marley let out a grin.

"That is." Marley took the paper from Finn, the grin still evident on her face. "Do you two want to help me with this song?"

"Sure, but we're going to have to ask you a lot of questions to get the song out of you and on paper." Finn smirked. Marley chuckled as Rachel let out a smile towards Finn. "Oh, by the way…" Finn went into the plastic bag he was carrying and put a chocolate pudding in front of Marley. "I took pudding with me this morning, but hearing your chocolate pudding ordeal made me realize that you'd probably want it more than me." Marley beamed towards Finn, then hugged him. Finn blushed as Marley took the pudding from Finn, thanking him for the delightful gesture.

"Thanks Finn." Marley politely said.

"You're welcome. Oh, here's a spoon." Finn smiled, handing her the spoon. Rachel couldn't wipe the smile off her face, even if she tried. The way Finn was acting with Marley was almost as if…Finn was a type of father figure. Rachel tapped her chin thoughtfully, still staring at her husband while Marley was telling Finn more about how she was feeling that could go in the song. Rachel had some plans—and they could possibly be big.

* * *

Santana walked along McKinley with Brittany in tow, searching for Tina in order to put her in her place about trying to get Marley to back away from taking the spotlight at Nationals. Santana knew that Tina was frustrated about not getting the lead for Nationals although it was her last competition, but there was more to it. Santana didn't like the way that Tina had become another Rachel Berry pre-High School Graduation. Santana admitted, Rachel didn't act that way anymore but when they were in high school, it was one of the things that used to irk her about her now friend. Santana would be damned if she saw someone treat an underclassmen in the same manner. Santana and Brittany entered a classroom with the New Directions members, spotting Tina leaning against the wall with her arms folded. Santana walked to the front of the class with Brittany standing next to her as everyone had Santana's undivided attention.

"Listen here and listen good." Santana started to say, keeping her eyes on Tina. "I've been hearing through the grapevine that some people in here are trying to defer other people from performing at Nationals because they think they deserve the lead." Tina knew that Santana was talking about her, causing her to walk towards Santana. "I'm just here to say, that's not how it's gonna go here. If Mr. Schuester chose Marley to get the lead for a song, then Marley is going to sing the lead for the song whether you like it or not."

"I know you're talking about me." Tina simply said, crossing her arms. "And you're not here week after week watching people like Blaine, Marley and even Brittany sing more songs than me. I have been in this Glee Club for four years and the only reason I got to sing a lead at Sectionals last year was because Rachel couldn't perform. I've been passed over, and I'm getting sick of it. This is my last competition and I want to sing."

"Well you're not the only one." Sam said, looking over at Tina. "We all want to sing in Glee Club. But the great part about it is that Mr. Schuester gives us a fair chance."

"A fair chance?" Tina scoffed while Santana continued to look at her. "I've barely sang in Glee Club. I am sick of being in the shadows while someone else gets that spotlight."

"Tina…I want you to look at me and tell me how many solo's I've gotten during any competition." Santana told her. Tina turned around as Santana crossed her arms. "I've only had one. _Valerie_. But am I complaining? No. Because if I'm Mr. Schue, I realize that our best chance to win was to either have Rachel or Mercedes belt out some notes. They were the most powerful. You may have a voice but you need to learn what to do with it."

"Yeah, Marley's original songs were _really_ good." Jake pointed out.

"And with Marley writing and singing an original song, we could be unstoppable." Artie added. Tina continued to look at them, then turned her head towards Santana.

"I don't believe that." Tina said. "I'm getting that solo no matter what. I'm through with playing fair. Rachel never played fair and look where it got her, a role on Broadway."

"Okay, so Rachel always wanted _the_ solo…but she _never_ attempted to harm anyone or put them down just so she could get it. Rachel has character and morals, but it seems that you don't have any. Marley is singing and there is nothing that you can do about it." Santana pointed at Tina while everyone else stared at her.

"Oh yeah? Just watch me." Tina pushed Santana aside as they all looked back towards the door, watching it shut. Santana was going to have to keep a close eye on Tina for now, before Tina did something she was bound to regret.

* * *

"Vote for me as Prom King!" Blaine walked along the halls, holding out buttons while Kurt held the brown box that contained them. Ever since Kurt came back to Lima, he had agreed to help Blaine with his nonstop campaign for Prom King. Kurt remembered his senior prom. It was so much better than his junior year when he found out he won Prom Queen (as a write-in joke).

"I still can't believe that you want to be Prom King." Kurt slightly scoffed, looking at the buttons.

"Well, I figured since I tanked my NYADA audition, I might as well have something else to look forward to. Maybe being Prom King will help take my mind off of how my senior year was pretty much a drag." Blaine shrugged his shoulders, handing out more buttons as they went along the hallway.

"So you'd rather settle on being Prom King than a freshman at NYADA?" Kurt asked. He turned to Blaine as they reached the end of the hallway, giving him a small smile. "Blaine, if Finn out of all people could get in NYADA then why can't you? I mean, you're super talented and there's nothing you can't accomplish."

"How _did_ Finn get into NYADA in the first place?" Blaine wondered.

"He probably has some potential or something. Anyway, you need to relax. Everything is going to work out fine." Kurt smiled, patting Blaine on his shoulder. Blaine continued to look at Kurt with a slight smile.

"Well there is something that I do need in order for everything to work out perfectly." Blaine said.

"And what could that be?" Kurt raised an eyebrow at Blaine.

"I could use a prom date." Blaine continued to stare at Kurt as Kurt let out a grin. "Kurt, I know we've been up and down all year, but in order to make prom the most magical night of my life, I need you there by my side all night…so, I'm asking you, Kurt Hummel…will you go to prom with me?" Blaine got down on one knee as Kurt slightly chuckled.

"Oh Blaine, you always were such a romantic. Of course I'll go to prom with you." Kurt smiled. Blaine looked over at Kurt, getting up from his position and hugging him. Prom night was going to be the most magical night possible. They would have prom, go to Nationals and hopefully Kurt would be with Blaine again by the end of the week. "Blaine, we should finish handing out these buttons. We do want you to win Prom King after all, right?" Blaine nodded his head, staring over at Kurt as they both walked down the hallway while trying to hide the blushes they both had on their faces.

* * *

That night at the Hudson-Hummel residence, Finn, Rachel and Kurt agreed to sit down with Carole and Burt for dinner. This was somewhat nerve-wracking for Finn and Rachel since this was the first family dinner since they were married. Rachel was so nervous, she was certain that there would be tension among everyone. It had to take Finn's constant reassuring that everything would work out fine. Rachel sat at the table, sort of listening to Burt tell his stories about congress, but her mind kept wandering to Finn. Rachel had a feeling Finn was only pretending to be interested in the conversation in order to please Burt and Carole. Rachel was knocked out of her thoughts when Kurt nudged her, causing Rachel to let out a small smile towards him.

"As exciting as your stories are about congress dad, I think we should talk about something else." Kurt spoke up as Rachel and Finn sent Kurt an appreciative glance. "Like perhaps Finn directing _Les Mis _or Rachel being in _Funny Girl_."

"I'm sorry we weren't able to fly into New York to see it, Finny." Carole put her spoon down as Finn's face turned a bright red. "So how was it?"

"I was only there for half the performance but I had to say it was spectacular." Rachel smiled, giving Finn a proud glance. "He did such a great job with the cast and everyone was impressed. Even Carmen Tibideaux enjoyed it."

"I had to agree. Finn really held the show together, which is the job of the director after all." Kurt added.

"I'm very proud of you, Finn." Carole beamed at her son who simply nodded his head. "So do you think directing could be in your future?"

"Oh no…" Finn shook his head. "I just want to be a music teacher. That was just a taste of what it was like to lead kids, even if they were sort of my own age."

"Well, you're going to be a great music teacher." Carole turned her attention to Rachel. "And what am I hearing about _Funny Girl_ getting rave reviews for your performance of _Don't Rain on My Parade, _Rachel?" Rachel blushed, seeing that Finn was now giving her a proud smile.

"Well, it was nothing, I mean, I was really nervous. But Finn had a wonderful surprise for me afterwards. He arranged for me to have a quick conversation with the one and only Barbra Streisand." Rachel noticed Kurt's face shoot up at that, staring over at Rachel.

"You can't be serious. You met Barbara before me?!" Kurt asked, sounding surprised. "Now I'm jealous."

"She said she was a fan of what I did and she can't wait to see another show. It's crazy how much my life has changed in the last few months." Rachel looked down at her wedding band, giving it a small smile before looking up at Carole and Burt. Burt cleared his throat and grabbed the dishes off the table, giving Finn and Kurt a look.

"Hey, I hear the Yankees and Indians are playing tonight. Why don't we go watch the game, boys?" Burt suggested to Finn and Kurt.

"All right." Finn got up from the table taking his dish to the sink.

"Agreed." Kurt added, getting up from the table with his empty dish as Rachel and Carole eyed one another with a quizzical look.

"But you don't even like baseball, Kurt." Finn pointed out as he, Burt and Kurt entered the living room.

"Twenty Bucks says that Kurt doesn't make it through the third inning." Burt chimed in.

"You're on." Finn added, earning a small chuckle from Carole and Rachel.

"Finn's right you know. Kurt hates baseball." Rachel said as Carole nodded her head with a smile.

"Yeah, I figured that." Carole got up from her chair with some dishes as Rachel stood up as well.

"Here, let me help you with that Mrs. Hudson." Rachel took some dishes as they went to the sink.

"Rachel. First off, call me Carole. You're family now. Second, you're also our guest. You don't have to clean the dishes. " Carole smiled at her. Rachel shook her head turning on the water as she started to scrub the dishes.

"No, it's fine." Rachel looked down at the dish then back up at Carole. "I actually kind of wanted to talk to you."

"What about?" Carole wondered. Rachel peered into the living room to see Kurt, Burt and Finn sitting in front of the T.V., then fixated her gaze on Carole.

"You don't hate me for marrying Finn so fast do you? Because the last thing I would want is for you to hate me, and I don't think I can take the pressure and…" Rachel was suddenly pulled into a hug by Carole, taking her completely off guard. Carole broke the hug but kept her hands on Rachel's shoulders, eyeing her with a grin.

"Rachel, I could never hate you sweetheart. Of course I would have wanted you and Finn to wait until you were with friends and family, but if you felt that being with him then was right then of course you had to do it. I understand." Carole smiled at her. Rachel continued to look at Carole, then grinned. "You're like the daughter I never had. And I am glad that Finn chose someone like you so that we can talk about anything. Just promise me that you'll wait until you decide to have children at least?"

"That I can promise…but I was thinking that Finn is so good with kids." Rachel leaned against the sink, staring over at Carole. "I mean, today we were in the library and Finn was so good at listening to Marley talk about her problems, and he made her feel better. They're writing a song for Nationals and it's coming out fantastic."

"Finn always did have a kind heart." Carole nodded her head. "He's going to make a fantastic father, one day."

"He is. I can just feel it. He's going to be perfect, and he's going to be the one that our kids are going to look up to one day and feel proud of him, all the time." Rachel agreed.

"Finn's a good man. He's going to make anyone proud of him just by the kindness of his heart. I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees it, even though he makes boneheaded mistakes sometimes." Carole chuckled.

"Finn does make mistakes, but he knows how to fix them and make it up to you, that's for sure." Rachel and Carole grinned at one another, then heard shouting come from the living room.

"Pay up, Finn!" Burt yelled at his stepson. "Told you Kurt couldn't last more than the third inning."

"Oh rats!" Finn said, causing Rachel and Carole to laugh.

"If anything, Finn's always going to be one big baby." Rachel whispered as the two women burst out laughing.

* * *

Tina sat in one of the seats at _The Lima Bean_, waiting for the person she called to arrive. She had given Santana's words some thought, but after realizing that she wanted the solo from Marley, she was going to have to take some drastic measures. Tina noticed the petite person entering the Lima Bean, finding Tina and taking a seat in front of her. As Tina continued to eye the girl, she then nodded her head as the girl leaned back in her seat.

"You may be wondering why I called you here." Tina said to the girl who quickly nodded her head. "It's because I have a way for both of us to get what we want. You get the chance to look like a hero to your team and I get the chance to get the solo I want. This was an original song that my 'teammate' Marley wrote. I want you to take this song and I want you to sing it for Nationals with The Hoosierdaddies. Then I'll say that she stole the song from you, and I'll get the solo from her so that I could shine in my final year and she'll be banished from Glee Club. Does that sound good, Frida Romero?" Frida continued to think about Tina's proposition, before let out a sly smirk.

"That sounds perfect…"

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: We'll Be A Dream by We The Kings feat. Demi Lovato (Sung by Noah "Puck" Puckerman, Finn Hudson, Mike Chang, Rachel Berry, Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez, Mercedes Jones and Kurt Hummel)_


	52. PROM

**_A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. The New Directions alumni went to McKinley to help out with prom and preparing the kids for Nationals. Tina's still peeved that Marley has the solo for Nationals, and vowed to Santana that she'll do anything to prevent Marley from singing on that stage in New York. Rachel's relieved to know that Carole doesn't hate her for marrying Finn early-and we want to hear what Mr. Schuester thinks about it. After all, he was pretty upset. So that's what you missed on, _GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee but I wish I did. **

**Note: Here we are at _Prom! _Since every season of Glee (except for Season One) had some sort of dance, I figured I would incorporate prom into my story. It's one of the longest chapters I've ever written since so much happens in it. Only a couple more chapters until Nationals and then a couple more chapters until Finn and Rachel's real wedding, so the story is sadly almost over. **

**Oh, one more thing. There's a poll on my profile page on whether or not you'd want a sequel to this story. I figured it would be easier that way for you to share your opinions with a click of a button. I've done enough talking.**

**Ladies and gentlemen...may I present to you _Glee: Prom!_**

* * *

The next morning Rachel sat in the Glee Club room, looking at some video on her laptop. Rachel was inspired from when Finn examined the competition via his laptop during Sectionals and Regionals, so she thought she would do the same thing for Nationals. Rachel continued to look at Frida Romero, the girl who was the tiny powerhouse for The Hoosierdaddies. Rachel felt herself becoming a little jealous staring over at the video. Frida was so confident when she commanded the stage and she was only 15 years old. When Rachel was 15, New Directions lost Regionals because they weren't good enough—either that or Jesse knew how to sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' really well. Rachel looked up from the computer and saw Brittany entering the Glee Club classroom, flashing a smile to her friend.

"Hi Rachel." Brittany smiled widely.

"Hi Brittany, what's up?" Rachel asked, putting the laptop to the side as Brittany let out a grin.

"I was supposed to find you yesterday to ask if you wouldn't mind going to Prom tonight." Brittany said innocently.

"Well, that would be nice but I don't go to school here anymore." Rachel slightly chuckled.

"No, but you were crowed Prom Queen last year and Finn was Prom King. They want you two to announce who will be Prom Queen and Prom King at prom tonight. It's kind of like a tradition." Brittany beamed.

"If that's the case, then I don't see why not whatsoever." Rachel agreed. "I just have to tell Finn so he doesn't become off guard. Besides, it might be fun for us to chaperone again and see everyone have a fun time before having to get back to work on Nationals." Brittany's smile faltered as she seemed to be deep in thought.

"Rachel, do you think we'll win Nationals?" Brittany questioned, uncertainty oozing in her voice. Rachel tapped her chin then nodded her head.

"You and New Directions are so talented…you can do this. I can assure you that everything is going to be fine. If you work together, you can accomplish anything." Brittany's smile returned as Rachel assured her.

"I hope we do. Oh, I better go and finish hanging up the banners. The theme this year is _Disney_. See you later, Rachel." Brittany waved then headed out of the room. Rachel chuckled slightly, then looked back down to the computer screen. Frida Romero was bugging her, but she wasn't sure why.

* * *

Finn sat in the courtyard, eating lunch with New Directions on the glorious June day. Finn knew that he was an alumni and that he didn't have to sit with his old team, but he was going to. They meant a lot to him when he was in High School. Finn was listening to Artie, Jake, Blaine and Ryder talk about prom while he noticed Marley looking down at her notepad, becoming highly uncomfortable with the conversation. He then turned to Tina and Brittany who were in the middle of talking of prom and what dress they were going to wear. _It's official,_ Finn thought to himself. _Everyone has prom fever_. Finn was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a kiss being pressed to his cheek. Finn looked up to spot Rachel giving him a smile, one that Finn reciprocated. Finn got up from his chair, waving to the rest of New Directions as he followed Rachel.

"Hey, what's up?" Finn stuffed his hand in his pockets seeing Rachel giving him a wide grin.

"So guess what, guess what, guess what!" Rachel jumped up and down like an energizer bunny.

"I can't guess if you don't tell me." Finn chuckled, Rachel beaming from ear to ear.

"Brittany told me that she wants us to be at the prom tonight so that we could crown the new Prom King and Prom Queen since we were the ones that won last year. Isn't that exciting?" Rachel noticed Finn's face turning serious as he put a hand to Rachel's forehead. "Finn? What are you doing?"

"Oh my gosh, it's worse than I thought." Finn kept a serious face, but Rachel could tell his tone was playful. "You caught prom fever too." Rachel giggled as Finn looked over to her. "Well that sounds like fun. I'm in." Finn turned his attention back to Marley who was still sitting there, trying to write in her notepad. "Do you think you could do me a favor and talk to Marley for me?"

"Sure, but what's wrong?" Rachel wanted to know.

"I'm not sure what's wrong with her." Finn looked back to Marley then focused on Rachel. "But she seems highly uncomfortable about the whole prom thing."

"All right." Rachel fixated her gaze on Marley, going deep into thought. "I'll talk to her about it."

* * *

"Okay, so the musical numbers have to be perfect." Tina walked around the Glee choir room, staring at everyone who wasn't a senior. "This is my last dance of High School and I don't want it to be a mess because everyone is off key."

"Why are you talking to us like we're illiterate foreigners?" Kitty crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow to Tina.

"Because you don't know how important Prom is. It has to be perfect. And since Mr. Schuester couldn't afford to get us a real band, we have to deal with you guys…but the alumni has graciously agreed to assist you wannabe's in the musical numbers, letting them show you how it's done." Tina smirked, walking past Kitty as Kitty turned her head to Ryder.

"Only two more weeks and then she's out of our hair forever." Ryder whispered.

"All right, now here are the songs that we want you to sing. Don't mess it up." Tina handed them the papers, as Marley looked up towards Tina.

"I'm not going to need one." Marley shook her head giving the paper back to Tina.

"And why not?" Tina gave Marley a steely look. Marley looked over to the other underclassmen then looked to Tina.

"Because I'm not going." Marley simply said. Everyone continued to stare at Marley, but Tina wasn't going to have any of it.

"You are going and you're going to sing. You always wanted the spotlight, didn't you? Well, now you have it." Tina rolled her eyes then walked past her. Marley shook her head, getting up from the chair and leaving the classroom. "Where are you going?" Tina spoke in an angry voice. Marley turned around, almost feeling the steam coming out of her ears.

"I'm not going to sing at your prom." Marley gave Tina a serious glance.

"And why not? I'm sure that you can find something cool in your closet to wear." Tina scoffed. Marley felt tears come into her eyes as she shook her head.

"And what if I can't? Hmm?! What if I can't go because I don't have anything nice to wear? What if my mom can't afford to even get me anything decent just so I could make you look good?!" Marley turned on her heels, the tears streaming down her face as everyone else in the Glee Club looked over at Tina.

"Not cool, Tina." Jake said, getting up from his chair and following a crying Marley out of the classroom. Jake couldn't seem to find her, wondering where on earth she could have gone. As if it was almost luck, Jake spotted Rachel walking down the hallway, looking as if she was looking for someone too. Rachel noticed Jake, letting out a grin as she walked over to him.

"Hey, Jake have you seen Marley?" Rachel wondered, staring at the younger Puckerman.

"No, I haven't seen Marley. I was actually going to ask you if you've seen her." Jake seemed a little distressed, causing Rachel to take a minute in order to figure out what was wrong.

"Is she okay?" Rachel asked.

"She ran out of the Glee Club because Tina wasn't listening again. Marley's trying to tell her that she doesn't want to go to the prom and sing but…" Jake shrugged his shoulders, continuing to stare at Rachel. "She doesn't have anything to wear. Her mother doesn't make a lot of money. I should know because her mother is the lunch lady in the cafeteria."

"Millie? Oh, she's a sweetheart." Rachel said. "I can see where Marley gets it from. Wait, so…Tina basically made Marley admit that she doesn't make a lot of money?"

"In a sense, yeah." Jake nodded his head. Rachel smirked, then looked back to Jake.

"I have an idea on how to make Marley feel better. I just need to find her first." Rachel tapped her foot, thinking, releasing a grin as she turned towards the doors of the auditorium. "I think I know where I can find her. Come on." Rachel led Jake towards the auditorium, opening the door slowly. Jake and Rachel's ears perked up, hearing someone playing the piano and singing. Recognizing the angelic voice, Jake and Rachel peered over to the stage, seeing Marley sitting at the piano, tears down her face as she looked out at the auditorium; singing to what she thought was an imaginary audience.

Seems like everybody's got a price  
I wonder how they sleep at night  
When the sale comes first and the truth comes second  
Just stop for a minute and smile  
Why is everybody so serious  
Acting so dang mysterious  
Got shades on your eyes  
And your heels so high  
That you can't even have a good time

Everybody look to the left  
Everybody look to the right  
Can you feel that, yeah  
We're paying with love tonight

It's not about the money, money, money  
We don't' need your money, money, money  
We just wanna make the world dance  
Forget about the price tag  
Ain't about the cha-ching, cha-ching  
Ain't about the ba-bling, ba-bling  
We just wanna make the world dance  
Forget about the price tag

We need to take it back in time  
When music made us all unite  
When it wasn't low blows and video girls  
Am I the only one getting tired  
Why is everybody so obsessed  
Money can't buy us happiness  
Can we all slow down and enjoy right now  
Guarenteed we'll be feeling all right

Everybody look to the left  
Everybody look to the right  
Can you feel that, yeah  
We're paying with love tonight

It's not about money, money, money  
We don't need your money, money, money  
We just wanna make the world dance  
Forget about the price tag  
Ain't about the cha-ching, cha-ching  
Ain't about the ba-bling, ba-bling  
We just wanna make the world dance  
Forget about the price tag

Yeah, yeah  
Forget about the price tag

Marley stopped playing the piano, staring at the music sheet then grimaced as she shut the cover to the keys on the piano.

"Who am I kidding?" Marley muttered to herself. "Everything revolves around money."

"Marley?" Rachel called out, causing Marley to turn in shock. How long were Rachel and Jake in here? And how much did they hear?

"What…what are you guys doing here?" Marley looked confused, wiping off the tears that were still on her face.

"Marley, Jake told me what happened between you and Tina in Glee Club. Do you really not want to go to prom because you don't have anything to wear?" Rachel wondered. Marley looked embarrassed, then nodded her head slowly.

"I'm not the girl that can go and buy a new dress or a new purse whenever I want. My mom is struggling with money…and I guess that's why I want to be a famous singer when I grow up…so I can help her and thank her for everything…I guess I also wish I had a little more so that I wouldn't be teased so often." Rachel noticed Marley sitting down on the edge of the stage as she and Jake joined her.

"Marley, money may make your life easier…but it doesn't mean you're going to be happy." Jake said. "I mean, my mom doesn't make a lot either…and I'm pretty content."

"I know it's just…for one night I want to feel like a princess. If Cinderella could go from rags to riches for one night, then why can't I?" Marley looked at them, feeling the tears fall from her face. Rachel knew what she had to do.

"That's it, Marley after school you and I are going shopping." Rachel shook her head. Marley looked up at Rachel, becoming jumbled.

"What?" Marley stammered.

"Marley, I know how much every girl wants to be Cinderella for one night. Well, I'm your Fairy Godmother and I am going to make that happen. Tonight, we are going to make you look like a princess, because if there's anyone that deserves attention at prom, it's you." Rachel grinned. Marley couldn't believe what was going on. Rachel was willing to help her become something that Marley once dreamed of being—a princess.

"Rachel, as wonderful as you are…I can't ask you to do this…" Marley spoke after a moment.

"Marley…you're my friend and I want to help you. All right? We're going shopping for a beautiful dress, any dress you want with of course consultation from Kurt, Santana and I could do your makeup. You're going to look so beautiful and you're going to feel like a princess. Oh, but Jake here can't see you until you're ready and he picks you up at Finn's house before the prom." Rachel grinned.

"Sounds good to me." Jake agreed, looking to Marley. "What do you think?"

"I think that it sounds perfect." Marley agreed, smiling at Rachel. Rachel was going to make this the best prom night for Marley, even if it killed her. But little did Rachel, Jake and Marley know, Tina was listening in on the entire conversation, shaking her head and plotting something big…bigger than any plan that Quinn could ever have.

* * *

"Rachel, come on! We're gonna be late!" Finn yelled from the kitchen, staring down at his watch. Finn continued to pace in the kitchen with his tuxedo on, becoming a little impatient with the fact that his wife was taking forever to get ready. Kurt entered the kitchen, grinning over at Finn.

"Rachel's almost ready. She's just getting the final touches ready on Marley with Santana. They should be down here any minute." Kurt smirked. Finn looked over at his brother, taking in the fact that he was dressed for the occasion. He crossed his arms with a smirk appearing on his face.

"So what's all this for, Kurt?" Finn chuckled. Kurt looked down at his outfit then back towards Finn.

"What? Is a simple tuxedo too much or something?" Kurt began to panic.

"No, no…it's not too much but…you look a little too dressed to just be a chaperon." Finn pointed out.

"Well, maybe because I'm Blaine's date for prom." Kurt wiggled his eyebrows towards his brother then went to the fridge to get a cup of water.

"Wait, you're taking Blaine to prom? That's great!" Finn smiled.

"Well, don't expect wedding bells soon, Finn." Kurt let out a sigh, taking a sip of his water. "We're just going to prom. Nothing is going to happen other than that. I don't know why Blaine asked me to prom in the first place."

"Because he loves you and misses you?" Finn pointed out the obvious.

"No, I'm sure that maybe he didn't have anyone else to go with so he figured I'd be the best choice." Kurt simply shrugged, letting out a sigh. "What is taking Rachel and Santana so long? They know that Brittany wants us there before everyone else gets there."

"They're coming, they're coming." Finn chuckled once again, then turned towards the kitchen after hearing high heel shoes clicking. Finn turned his head to spot Rachel, her hair perfectly straightened with her ombre highlights returning. She decided to go with a white long dress, completing the look with a pearl necklace, pearl earrings and white pumps. Finn's jaw opened a bit, unbelieving how beautiful his wife was.

"So, what do you think?" Rachel asked. Finn walked over to Rachel, taking her hand and pressing a kiss on it.

"You look beautiful, Rachel." Finn complimented. "Much better than me anyway." Finn looked down at his tuxedo as Rachel giggled.

"Oh, you look fine." Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's cheek, then turned her head towards the door. "Is Jake here yet? I told him to come here so that he could see Marley." As if on cue, the doorbell rang, causing Kurt to head to the door and get it. When Kurt opened the door, he saw Jake standing there in a tuxedo, smiling over at Kurt as Kurt let the sophomore enter the house. "Jake, you're here! Good! Are you ready to see Marley?" Rachel grinned, walking over to the younger Puckerman.

"Yep, I'm actually excited to see her." Jake grinned. Rachel pulled Jake over towards the living room then grinned.

"Okay Santana! Bring her in!" Rachel smiled. Santana entered the kitchen wearing a black dress with black pumps, completing her look with her makeup and red lipstick, her hair straightened, releasing a grin towards Jake.

"All right, here she is." Santana motioned for Marley to come in the room. At the sight of Marley, Jake's jaw dropped, staring over at the brown-haired beauty. Marley's hair was straightened and pinned to one side, her hair staying that way with a crystalized flower hairpin. Marley's dress was a baby blue, while her heels were see-through, to resemble Cinderella's glass slippers. Marley completed her look with a diamond necklace and her makeup looking perfect, her eyeshadow a light blue and her lips a peach color. Jake continued to stare at Marley with a grin, causing Marley to become slightly uncomfortable.

"Is something wrong? Do I look bad or something?" Marley became self-conscious. Jake walked over to her, pulling a corsage from behind his back, staring over at her with a grin.

"You look so beautiful." Jake said, putting the baby blue corsage on Marley's wrist. "I know this isn't exactly _our_ prom but I wanted to make sure that you had the entire dream night that you deserved." Marley couldn't help but grin at Jake, hugging him tightly with glee.

"All right, not that this isn't adorable but Brittany's going to kill me if we're late to prom." Santana chuckled, motioning everyone to head out the door. Marley looked over to Rachel with a thankful smile, Rachel releasing a nod and a grin of her own. Finn grinned at Rachel, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"You did good, Rachel." Finn rubbed Rachel's back lightly.

"Every girl deserves to be a princess, even if it's only for one night." Rachel smiled at Finn.

"Come on. We need to go and party our lives away!" Finn joked, causing Rachel to let out a laugh.

"We're chaperones, Finn. Not High School students." Rachel playfully reprimanded her husband.

"Come on! We gotta live while we're young!" Finn walked out of the house while Rachel smiled at him. She loved Finn with all her heart…and he reminded her of another reason as to why she loved him.

* * *

Prom at McKinley High was in full swing, the seniors and juniors dancing along to the music as New Directions prepared to perform. Tina stood by the punch bowl, wearing a green dress with gold linings, complete with green shoes and her hair in a half ponytail, her bangs covering her face. Tina continued to observe her surroundings, deciding then to look down at her iPhone with a grin. The plan was in full force—now all she had to do was sit and wait.

"Wow Tina, you look great." A voice knocked her out of her thoughts. Tina looked over to see Sam staring at her with a smile, then released a proud smirk.

"Thank you Sam. I spent all day yesterday getting my dress just right. Hopefully it will be the life of the party." Tina grinned.

"Yeah it sure will…wow…" Tina could tell by Sam's tone that he had set his eyes somewhere else, and he was taking in what he was seeing. Tina turned her head to see Marley and Jake entering the gym. Tina's eyes squinted in anger, seeing how _beautiful_ Marley looked. _I thought she didn't have money to get a look like that! Who got her that look,_ Tina fumed. "Wow Marley, you look beautiful." Sam complimented.

"Thank you Sam." Marley beamed, looking over at Jake.

"Marley, girl! You look hot!" Mercedes walked over to Jake and Marley with Quinn, Puck and Mike in tow.

"Well, I have Rachel and Santana to thank." Marley looked over to Rachel and Santana, seeing that they were giving her a confident smile.

"You still look beautiful." Quinn complimented her. "You're the life of the party right now." Marley blushed at Quinn's comment, but Tina continued to stare over at Marley in rage. This was Tina's senior prom! Who did Marley (a sophomore nonetheless) think she was, entering in here as if this was her prom? Tina slinked away from the others, having enough of Marley, getting ready to put her plan into action.

"Come on, Marley…I love this song!' Jake heard the song that Artie, Ryder and Blaine were singing, instructing Marley to follow her to the dance floor.

"Okay…" Marley giggled as Jake pulled her away. Quinn walked over to Rachel, giving her friend a smile.

"I don't think I've ever seen her so confident before." Quinn looked back towards Marley and Jake.

"I don't think I have either." Rachel shrugged her shoulders as Quinn pulled Rachel with her to dance.

"Thanks for stealing my date…" Finn yelled out playfully towards Quinn as Quinn playfully stuck her tongue out at Finn, heading with the other girls to dance.

[Ryder]  
Every clock is ticking faster  
Taking trips around the sun  
Another year, another chapter  
Five and four and three and two and one

Drop your calls, lose your keys (Blaine and Artie: Before the drinks are gone)  
Get yourself out your seat (Blaine and Artie: Uh, oh, uh, oh)  
Quit complaining, move your feet (Blaine and Artie: Until the break of dawn)  
Cause nobody gives a damn about the day that you were born

[Blaine and Artie]  
This song for everyone who it ain't your birthday  
You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not  
This song's for everyone who's having the worst day  
You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not

Party like it's not, party like it's not (Ryder: Like it's not your birthday)  
Party like it's not, party like it's not  
Party like it's not, party like it's not (Ryder: Like it's not your birthday)  
Party like it's not, party like it's not

[Artie]  
Okay, let's lose control  
I wanna see everybody on the floor  
Go and send those invitations  
Do it now cause time is wasting  
Life is tough so fill them cups  
One life to live, I'ma live it up  
Drinks go up, drink them down  
Turn it up, wake up the town  
Okay check it out, here's the plan  
We're gonna dance till we can't stand  
Move your feet to every beat  
Bump that, bring it back, put it on repeat  
We gonna party till the break of dawn  
I don't even know how I'm getting home  
It's all right, it's okay  
It's not even my birthday

[Blaine and Artie]  
Party like it's not, Party like it's not  
Party like it's not, Party like it's not (Ryder: Like it's not your birthday)  
Party like it's not, party like it's not  
Party like it's not, party like it's not

[Ryder, Blaine and Artie]  
This song's for everyone who ain't your birthday  
You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not  
This song's for everyone who's having the worst day

You gotta party like it's not, party like it's not

Party like it's not, party like it's not (Ryder: Like it's not your birthday)  
Party like it's not, party like it's not  
Party like it's not, party like it's not (Ryder: Like it's not your birthday)  
Party like it's not, party like it's not

Oh, whoa!

As soon as the song finished, everyone started cheering wildly for the guys, watching them head off the stage with a smile on their face. They headed towards their friends as Blaine put his eyes on Kurt. Kurt gave Blaine a nod, letting him know that he had sung great.

"That was awesome." Quinn giggled while hugging Artie.

"That was great, guys." Rachel complimented them as they focused their eyes on Marley who was agreeing with Rachel.

"Marley? Wow…you look…incredible." Ryder grinned, seeing that Marley was blushing.

"Yes, we know Marley looks smoking hot. Marley has her fairy godmothers to help her out here. She will blow everyone away here." Santana fluffed her hair while looking at Marley.

"Hey, has anyone seen Tina? I actually wanted to talk to her." Artie questioned.

"I haven't seen her since we came here." Rachel now realized. Marley looked at them, raising an eyebrow.

"Where do you think she went?" Quinn wondered.

"I'm not quite sure." Marley began to get suspicious. Tina had been acting odd all week—until she noticed that someone familiar was walking along with Tina towards them.

"That's Frida Romero from The Hoosierdaddies." Rachel muttered to Finn who simply nodded his head. Frida walked to Marley, crossing her arms while Tina let out a smirk.

"Can I help you?" Marley shook her head, looking at Frida.

"Yeah, you can…_cheater_." Frida looked to everyone who looked over to Marley.

"Excuse me, what are you talking about?" Finn butted in.

"And how did you get in here?" Rachel added.

"Your _lovely_ friend Tina here let me in. Now, I was told that there was an original song that you "wrote" for Nationals…which is impossible since _I_ wrote it." Frida showed the lyrics to Finn and Rachel, as their eyes opened wide.

"Where did you get this song?" Finn became irate.

"I wrote it and Marley stole it, hence she's a cheater. I demand that she ceases and desists or else The Hoosierdaddies will sue." Frida smirked.

"Hold on a minute, that's not possible. _We_ wrote this song in the library the other day. That's _my_ handwriting." Finn pointed at the paper, then looked up to Tina. "Tina…how did a girl that doesn't even go to our school get Marley's song? Did you give it to them?"

"You did what now?" Kitty and Ryder walked up behind Tina, seeing that Tina was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

"You wanted Frida to say Marley stole the song so Marley couldn't perform at Nationals, didn't you?" Finn accused. "You wanted the solo all to yourself! What is wrong with you?" Tina started backing away towards the table, seeing the alumni along with her fellow glee clubbers coming towards her.

"I deserve the solo! Marley's only been here since September. I've been here since the last FOUR years! I have been ignored and I am not going to take it _anymore!_" Tina slammed her hand on the table, and no one could have predicted what was going to happen next. The punch bowl flipped in the air, with the contents landing on—Marley. Marley looked up at Tina, her knees shaking and her breaths turning shallow. Everything that Rachel and Santana did for her was ruined! Her hair was now wet, her dress was ruined and her makeup was running down her face and Tina simply looked at her, feeling a tiny bit of guilt as Marley walked past them, heading towards the bathroom while sniffling. Rachel and Quinn gave Tina a stern look then followed Marley to the bathroom.

"Wow Tina, I knew that you were a self-centered monster who wanted the spotlight to herself, but I didn't think you'd be a bitch either." Santana walked away from Tina as everyone else minus Frida followed. Tina looked over to Frida, letting out a sigh.

"I didn't mean to make Marley cry…" Tina sighed, putting her hand through her hair. "That was the last thing I wanted…"

* * *

Rachel and Quinn entered the bathroom, looking around the small room as Quinn gave Rachel a small smirk. Rachel smiled back at Quinn for a moment as Quinn lined her finger along the bathroom sink. Quinn slightly chuckled, then turned her head to Rachel.

"Hmm…funny…last time we were in the bathroom during prom, I slapped you out of anger." Quinn and Rachel weren't able to joke about it then, but the two young women were able to joke about it now.

"Yeah, you know that when you slapped me it helped me toughen up a bit." Rachel grinned. Rachel and Quinn were knocked out of their thoughts when they heard slight cries coming from the bathroom stall. Rachel and Quinn walked over to the stall as Rachel put her hand on it. "Marley? It's Rachel and Quinn, please come out." Quinn and Rachel stood by the door as Marley slightly opened the door, her hair wavy from when the punch hit her.

"I look like Cinderella after the magic disappeared." Marley started crying again as Rachel rubbed her back lightly.

"Tina's just being mean spirited Marley, don't you worry about it." Quinn let out a slight smile. "You know…I have a mini hair straightener with me."

"And I have some makeup so we can retouch you up." Rachel grinned. Marley looked over to Quinn and Rachel, letting out a sigh.

"What about my dress? It's covered in punch." Quinn let out a warm smile, putting a hand on Marley's shoulder.

"After being slushied once or twice in your high school career, you learn something about taking the stains out of your clothes." Quinn went through her purse and took out a small Tide pen, running it over the stains on Marley's dress. "Marley, there are going to be mean girls in High School, I should know…I was one of them. But you need to keep your head up and you need to let them know that you're going to be someone one day. You're going to be successful and they're just going to be mean and jealous. People are mean for different reasons, but that doesn't give them the right to tarnish your reputation and make a special night disastrous." Marley stopped crying while staring at Quinn, then a smile began to appear on her face. "There's that smile. Come on Rachel, we have a little bit of work to do to make Marley look like a princess again." Rachel nodded her head, taking the mini hair straightener and started to re-straighten Marley's hair.

"I just want to thank you guys…you guys have been there for me ever since you guys first got here this year to help New Directions. I appreciate it and, I can see why Mr. Schuester talks a lot about you guys so much." Marley sincerely told them.

"You're very welcome. If I could give you one more bit of advice…keep being your sweet self Marley. Don't ever change for anyone. The way you act will determine whether or not people will want to hang out with you for you." Marley nodded her head, releasing a smile.

"I promise I will." Marley agreed as Rachel and Quinn gave each other a grin.

"Come on Cinderella. Time to make you the queen of the ball…" Rachel said. As soon as Rachel said those words, Quinn's mind began to whirl. Quinn had to see Santana later—she had a plan forming in her mind.

* * *

Back at the gymnasium, Blaine and Kurt started dancing in their own little world as Brittany stood on the stage, singing and dancing with Mike while Puck played the guitar. Everyone else was interested in the stage, but Kurt and Blaine eyed one another with a grin, almost blocking out the fact that Brittany was the one singing the sweet sounds of Ke$ha or as Principal Figgins called them…'Ke-Dollar Sign-ha.'

[Brittany with Mike and Puck]  
I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums  
Oh what a shame that you came here with someone  
So while you're here in my arms  
Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young  
Like we're gonna die young  
Like we're gonna die young  
Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young

[Brittany]  
Young hearts out our minds  
Running like we're out of time  
Wild Childs, looking good  
Living hard just like we should  
Don't care who's watching when we're tearing it up (you know)  
We got that magic that nobody can touch (for sure)

Looking for some trouble tonight  
Take my hand and I'll show you the wild side  
Like it's the last night of our lives  
We'll keep dancing till we die

[Brittany with Mike and Puck]  
I hear your heart beat  
To the beat of the drums  
Oh what a shame that you came here with someone  
So while you're here in my arms  
Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young  
We're gonna die young  
We're gonna die young  
Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young

"Why does Brittany like to sing Ke$ha?" Kurt yelled to Blaine over the music as Brittany and Mike continued dancing on the stage.

"I'm not quite sure…" Blaine shrugged his shoulders as Kurt let out a smirk.

"So do you think that you'll win Prom King? I mean, we know how much you want to win because you think it will mean so much to your senior year." Kurt continued to look at Blaine.

"Yeah, I do want to win Prom King, but if I don't then it's okay." Blaine let Kurt know. "I mean, if I don't win it's not like it's the end of the world or anything."

"I know but if you win Prom King then you could add that to your application, then you could possibly get into NYADA and include that as an accomplishment." Kurt began to get excited.

"Kurt, I don't think that being Prom King is an accomplishment. Besides, I don't even know if I'm going to win yet." Blaine sounded uncertain of himself.

"And that's your problem. You're too afraid to try. You have to grab life by the reigns and steer it in your direction." Kurt continued to look at Blaine with certainty.

"Well, what about you? Did you get your glorious NYADA letter yet?" Blaine asked.

"I haven't got it yet, and I don't think I will. I think I tanked my audition." Kurt admitted.

"You did not tank your audition." Blaine assured him. "You were fantastic and NYADA would be stupid to not even consider taking you."

"Yeah, but what if they don't want me? I mean there's nothing that I can really offer them." Kurt was beginning to lose self confidence in himself.

"Why are we even talking about this now?" Blaine shook his head. "I'm at my prom with you and we're dancing…we're having a good time. Let's forget about NYADA. Right now, I'm at my senior prom."

"I was wondering, why did you choose me to go to prom with you? I'm sure there are a lot of suitors that would love to hang out with Mr. Blaine Anderson." Kurt chuckled.

"Well…I chose to go to prom with you….because you're my best friend." Blaine let out a sigh. "I can't picture going to prom with anyone else but you…you're my soul mate Kurt…and I don't ever want to lose you again. I realized this year we've been up and down but I don't want us to ask ourselves a bunch of 'what if's'. I want us to be together again, and no matter what happens I will go to New York and think about you. You're the only one for me, Kurt…and it's not entirely easy for me to say especially since I don't know where we stand in this relationship." Kurt continued to look at Blaine, realizing that Blaine wanted to get back together with him. Kurt's eyes widened, still staring over at Blaine, almost forgetting that he had to breathe. "Kurt?"

"What? I mean…um…wow…" Kurt stammered. He looked to Blaine then nodded his head. "I need to go to the restroom. Can you excuse me for a second?" Kurt got out of Blaine's grasp and started heading towards the restroom, leaving Blaine standing there by himself. Did Blaine say something that he wasn't supposed to say? Blaine was suddenly feeling like an idiot, realizing that maybe he had lost Kurt forever—and all because he decided to act upon his intentions.

* * *

While everyone else was in the gymnasium, Finn entered one of the classrooms, spotting Mr. Schuester looking at the drum set. Finn looked around the classroom, staring at the red seats, the piano, the drums, Mr. Schue. Finn had to say something, anything in order to get Mr. Schuester to look at him. Finn walked closer to Mr. Schuester, clearing his throat and letting out a chuckle.

"I didn't think that I was going to find you here." Finn said. Mr. Schuester turned around, seeing Finn staring at him with a small smile. "I thought you would be at the prom, trying to get Sue Sylvester to stop trying to guard the punch bowl. Well, what's left of the punch after it was spilled."

"Oh, as much as I want to do that, I don't think I can." Mr. Schuester laughed a bit, then his face became a little serious. "What are you doing out of prom. Don't you and Rachel have to announce Prom King and Queen soon?"

"Yeah, but Rachel's busy helping Marley with Quinn right now. Tina spilled punch on Marley, ruining everything. She then tried to get Marley off New Directions by framing her for stealing a song that we wrote. She even got Frida Romero to come over here and be a part of her plot." Finn sat down in one of the chairs as Mr. Schuester did the same thing. "I don't know what Tina's problem is. You gave Marley the song, but Tina is doing anything to get the solo."

"I'll deal with Tina later…" Mr. Schuester assured Finn. He then sat in the seat next to Finn, looking over at his former student. "I actually wanted to talk to you since you came back from New York. It has to do with you and Rachel."

"Wait, I know where this is going." Finn put his hand up, staring at Mr. Schuester. "You're trying to tell me that I shouldn't have married Rachel like I did and that I should have waited. I know and everyone wants me to be sorry because I acted on my intentions. I already promised everyone that we'd have a real ceremony once New Directions finishes school. If Jay Cutler and that lady he's with can get married then have a ceremony, then why can't Rachel and I?" Mr. Schuester listened to Finn's reasoning, then nodded his head.

"I was actually going to tell you all that, but hearing it from you it makes a lot of sense. You love Rachel so much, don't you?" Mr. Schuester folded his hands, still keeping his eyes on Finn.

"I love her so much that I would do anything to protect her. Even if it meant that I would die for her. I'd do anything to make sure she's safe and I wouldn't stop unless she feels content." Mr. Schuester studied Finn's face for a moment, then his lips curled up into a smile.

"Come here." Mr. Schuester pulled Finn into a man hug, then looked over to Finn. "I am so proud of you, Finn. I know you've been told that a lot over the last year or so, but you really have done a lot that everyone is proud of. I mean, you're no longer that lost kid that didn't really want to be in Glee Club when I first met you. You're a man now. And there's nothing that's going to stop you and get in your way. You're not just thinking about yourself. You're also thinking about Rachel—and you're thinking about her wants and needs more than yours. That's being a man."

"Mr. Schuester…I was wondering…would you be my best man at the wedding?" Finn asked, staring at Mr. Schuester. Mr. Schuester felt his eyes water a bit, nodding his head with pride.

"Yes…yes, I would love to be your best man Finn. It would be an honor." Finn and Mr. Schuester looked at one another once again, embracing into another man hug.

* * *

In another classroom, Santana, Brittany and Quinn were counting the results for Prom King and Prom Queen. As Quinn continued to count the Prom Queen results, she remembered how she was in High School and it was all she ever dreamed about. She realized that although being Prom Queen meant everything in High School, it meant nothing once they went into the outside world. Quinn finished counting the Prom Queen votes, turning to Brittany and Santana with a sigh.

"Well, guess who won Prom Queen." Quinn sighed, putting down the paper. "Tina."

"Tina won Prom Queen? Who voted for _her_?" Santana scoffed.

"Yeah, she's been kind of mean to Marley lately. And…that's Tina's handwriting on all of the papers." Brittany added. Quinn looked at the paper, then grabbed a pen from one of the desks. "Quinn, what are you doing?" Quinn continued to look at the paper, letting out a grin.

"Tina wants to cheat in order to get everything, then she's going to get a taste of her own medicine." Quinn started jotting down names on empty sheets of paper.

"Who are you writing down?" Santana asked. Quinn gave Santana her famous smirk, then went back to the paper, writing down a name over and over.

* * *

Kurt sat in the hallway by the lockers, feeling almost winded. Rachel headed towards Kurt, giving him a smile, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed her best friend was almost in a funk. Rachel sat down next to Kurt, staring over at him.

"Come on, they're about to announce who's going to be Prom King and Prom Queen. I thought you would want to be there for Blaine in case he wins." Rachel's grin evaporated when she noticed Kurt turning his head towards Rachel with a muddled expression.

"Rachel, Blaine just basically asked me to get back together with him. I don't know what to do…," Kurt sounded lost. Rachel patted Kurt's shoulder then let out a sigh.

"Why are you so guarded against Blaine? He's not going to hurt you again." Rachel soothingly told Kurt. "I mean, everyone makes mistakes but if you don't take chances then you're never going to amount to pure happiness. If I didn't take that chance with Finn, then I would have never have found my way and been happy. You need to let Blaine love you again and I guarantee you, you'll be happy." Kurt considered Rachel's words for a moment as she got up from the floor, helping Kurt up along with her. "Come on, at least see who is crowned Prom Queen and Prom King. I promise you'll have fun." Kurt and Rachel headed towards the gymnasium as Quinn handed Rachel an envelope. "These are the winners?"

"Yep, those are the winners." Quinn smiled, turning to Santana and Brittany with a grin. Rachel nodded her head, going towards the front of the stage, handing Finn the Prom King note. Principal Figgins went to the front of the stage, looking at the students who gathered around the stage.

"Good evening seniors, juniors and New Directions sophomores. Welcome to prom. Before we get to the announcing of Prom King and Prom Queen, I would like to tell you that if you had eaten the chicken for lunch today, then please make your way to the nurse after the prom for your Hepatitis prevention shot. Now, here are last years Prom King and Prom Queen, who I must mention have graduated and keep coming back…Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson." Principal Figgins handed Rachel the microphone as Finn and Rachel looked out to the crowd.

"Good evening everyone. Let's announce the Prom King and Prom Queen." Rachel looked to Finn who cleared his throat, opening the envelope.

"Your 2013 McKinley High Prom King is…" Finn opened the envelope, then looked out to the crowd. "Blaine Anderson." Everyone started cheering as Blaine made his way towards the stage as Finn put the crown on Blaine's head. As soon as the cheering subsided, Rachel looked to the envelope in her hand and opened it.

"And your 2013 McKinley High Prom Queen is…" Rachel opened the envelope, but she had to do a double take when she read it. It was the _senior_ prom, meaning a senior should have won. Instead, Rachel gave a warm smile as she looked up to the crowd. "Marley Rose." Everyone turned their attention to Marley who looked at Jake with a confused look. Tina stood in the corner, her anger reappearing once again.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!" Tina shouted from the punch bowl table.

"Something wrong Tina?" Quinn innocently asked.

"How did she win Prom Queen? She's _not_ a senior!" Tina shouted.

"She was a write in vote." Quinn smirked, then looked over to Marley, assuring her to go to Rachel to get her crown. Marley walked to the front of the stage, looking over to Rachel as Rachel put the crown on Marley's head. Rachel noticed Tina storm out of the gymnasium, but everyone else had their eyes on Marley. Realizing that no one was clapping, Jake started to clap for Marley slowly. Everyone continued to look at Jake clapping, then Finn joined in followed by Rachel. One by one everyone else started to join in the cheers until it was almost deafening. Marley couldn't wipe the grin off her face even if she tried. Blaine held out his hand for Marley to take as she took Blaine's hand, heading over to the dance floor.

"Kind of like Cinderella's happy ending?" Finn whispered in Rachel's ear as Rachel nodded her head.

"Yep, kind of like Cinderella's happy ending." Rachel agreed. She then turned her attention to Blaine and Marley as she set up her microphone. "And now the Prom King and Queen shall have their dance." Everyone started to clap as Rachel and Finn continued to set up the microphones. What was a better way to end the dance than to have a Finchel duet? The music began to play as Finn and Rachel kept their eyes on one another, and other couples slowly danced the night away..

[Finn]  
I thought that dreams belonged to other men  
Cause each time I got close, they'd fall apart again

[Rachel]  
I feared my heart would beat in secrecy  
I faced the nights alone

[Finn and Rachel]  
Oh how would I have known  
Cause all my life I only needed you

Almost paradise  
We're knocking on heaven's door  
Almost paradise  
We couldn't ask for more  
I swear that I could see forever in your eyes  
Paradise  
Yeah, it's paradise

[Rachel]  
It seems like perfect love is hard to find  
I'd almost given up, you must have read my mind.

[Finn and Rachel]  
And all these dreams I'd saved for a rainy day  
They're finally coming true  
You know I'd share it all with you  
Cause now we hold the future in our hands

Almost paradise  
We're knocking on heaven's door  
Almost paradise  
How could we ask for more  
I swear that I could see forever in your eyes  
Paradise

[Finn]  
Yeah it's Paradise

[Rachel]  
And in your arms salvation's not so far away

[Finn and Rachel]  
It's getting closer, closer everyday

Almost paradise  
We're knocking on heaven's door  
Almost paradise  
How could we ask for more  
I swear that I would see forever in your eyes

Paradise

[Finn]  
Yes it's paradise

[Rachel]  
Paradise

[Finn]  
Yes it's paradise

[Finn and Rachel]  
Paradise

At the end of the song, Finn leaned in and pressed a kiss on Rachel's lips, Rachel responding to the kiss. Everyone started to cheer as Rachel looked up into Finn's eyes as Finn ran a hand through Rachel's hair. Rachel turned her head to spot Marley and Blaine laughing with one another as Rachel looked back to her husband.

"You know you're my paradise, right?" Rachel questioned as Finn kissed Rachel's forehead.

"And you're my paradise." Finn held Rachel's hand in his. They were almost lost in their own little world…

* * *

Marley exited the school, walking down the street with Jake on her arm, unable to contain her happiness. Jake had to admit that he thought it was a little odd that Marley won Prom Queen for a senior prom but if she was a write in vote, then so be it. Jake and Marley continued to walk down the street until they heard something or _someone_ making a noise around the corner. Marley and Jake turned the corner, staring over at Tina who was crying her eyes out by the basketball courts. Jake thought it would have been better to just turn away, but Marley thought against it, remembering Quinn's words.

"Tina?" Marley softly said, walking over to Tina. Tina wiped her tears, looking away from Marley and Jake.

"What do you want?" Tina sniffed, rubbing her eyes. "Haven't you had enough taking everything I ever wanted from me?"

"Haven't you had enough, trying to cheat your way through everything?" Marley retorted. Tina turned around towards Marley as Marley let out a sigh.

"I didn't cheat through anything…" Tina played innocent.

"Yes you did." Marley nodded her head. "You tried to get Frida Romero to say that I stole a song from her. You poured punch on me and I heard that you tried to cheat your way to win Prom Queen. If all those things mean so much to you, then FINE!" Marley took the crown off her head and handed it to Tina. "And if you want the solo so much, then you can have it and do you know why? Because I quit Glee Club…and I'm not coming back. Just know Tina, you want all these dumb things but in the end, none of it is going to matter. It's not going to matter when you're 30. Nationals isn't going to get you your dream job. It's just going to be…a small insignificant thing…but I guess you're too superficial to see that." Marley turned on her heels and walked down the street, feeling more saddened with every step she took. Jake followed Marley, running at a pace while Tina stared over at Marley. Tina looked down at the crown, thinking that maybe there was more to high school or life—than just her getting whatever she wanted. She continued to think of Marley's words, and they haunted her for the rest of the night.

* * *

Kurt placed his suit and tie away in a neat fashion, stripping down to a white t-shirt and his pajama pants. Kurt continued to put the dress clothes away until he heard a knock at the door. Kurt headed down the stairs and opened the door, spotting Blaine at the doorstep. Kurt stuffed his hands in his pajama pockets, giving Blaine a nod.

"I'm glad that you came." Kurt said.

"I'm glad that you called me." Blaine said. Kurt and Blaine looked at one another, before Kurt let out a sigh.

"There's something that I wanted to talk to you about…" Kurt said. "When you were asking me if you wanted to get back together, I was just in a panic. I was wondering what to do, what to say…I was nervous and I had no idea how to respond to it. I guess in my haste what I was trying to say was…I missed you. I want to be with you again and I want us to be together. There's nothing more that I want than for us to hold each other in our arms, whisper nothings in our ears and…giving each other the love that we both need. I was just afraid to let you know the truth…that was all I really wanted to say. Do you have anything that you'd like to add?" Blaine took a step forward, looking Kurt in his eyes, his face turning relieved.

"You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that…" Blaine whispered. Kurt looked to Blaine, grabbing his hand and leading him into the house.

"Rachel and Finn aren't home yet and neither are Santana and Brittany…I have the house to myself. Do you want to go upstairs or…something?" Kurt suggested. Blaine's face lit up as Kurt led Blaine up the stairs.

"I would love that…" Blaine simply said as Kurt let Blaine to the bedroom where they would spend the rest of the night in, letting one another know how much they missed each other throughout the rough, up and down year.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Price Tag by Jessie J (Sung by Marley Rose), Not Your Birthday by AllStar Weekend (Sung by Ryder Lynn, Blaine Anderson and Artie Abrams), Die Young by Ke$ha (Sung by Brittany Pierce with Noah "Puck" Puckerman and Mike Chang), Almost Paradise by Victoria Justice and Hunter Hayes (Sung by Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry)_


	53. Rachel: I Hate This Part

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. New Directions had prom night and Marley was a princess that fit the Disney theme, but Tina being the bad guy tried to make the night impossible for her-but it backfired and Marley became prom queen. Mr. Schuester and Finn finally talked about Finn's decision to elope and Finn asked Mr. Schuester to be the best man at his wedding. Rachel and Quinn played the part of the Fairy Godmother and even walked into the bathroom where they slapped each other two years ago. Yep, good times. Kurt and Blaine got back together and Blaine slept over at Kurt's house. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee but I wish I did. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The next day at Glee Club, it was time to prepare for Nationals, and the New Directions alumni, daunted themselves with certain tasks. Finn and Puck were in charge of putting together the set-list; learning the musical notes to play each of the songs, Mike and Santana were in charge of helping New Directions with their dancing, Rachel and Mercedes were in charge of helping New Directions with their vocals, and Quinn and Kurt were of course in charge of the costumes. The alumni sat in the choir room, waiting for the New Directions to come, leading them to reminisce about how they were in Glee Club—and how last year, it was _them_ getting ready for Nationals.

"It's almost hard to believe that we're not the one's going to New York to perform at Nationals." Quinn muttered, looking over to her friends. "I mean, they have to keep up the legacy."

"These kids can take them." Kurt shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the red fabric he had in his lap. "Those little rascals should be here any minute."

"Wait a minute…didn't Glee Club start ten minutes ago?" Puck looked over at his friends as the girls let out a laugh.

"Why does it matter to you? You were always late to Glee Club." Mercedes giggled as Rachel, Santana and Quinn joined in.

"The point is Mercedes…where is_ everyone_?" Puck looked around. The girls stopped laughing, realizing that in order to practice for Nationals, they needed the _Glee Club!_ But why were they late? They were never late before. Just then, Artie rolled into the room with Brittany following behind him, looking a bit troubled.

"We have a situation." Artie simply said.

"What situation do we have? What's wrong?" Finn asked, walking towards Artie and Brittany.

"We can't perform at Nationals." Brittany blurted out.

"Wait, what do you mean you can't perform at Nationals?" Santana didn't know where Brittany was going with it.

"Marley quit the Glee Club last night." Artie explained. "That means that we only have eleven members, meaning that we can't compete because we're short one member."

"Wait, why would Marley quit the Glee Club?" Mercedes asked. "I mean, she seemed so happy yesterday at Prom."

"Because it's my fault…" A voice said from behind everyone. Everyone turned around to spot Tina standing there, wringing her hands and looking down to the ground. "It's my fault that Marley quit. I was so petty and so selfish the last couple of weeks and Marley couldn't take it anymore. If there was anyone that pushed her away, it was me. And I want to be able to make things right…I want to. I just need help." Finn and Rachel eyed one another then looked back to Tina.

"Have you tried talking to Marley?" Finn suggested. "She might just want to talk. Maybe she's just frustrated."

"I was thinking of going to talk to her." Tina admitted.

"Then you better get to it. Nationals are this weekend and we need everyone to be their best." Puck nodded his head, urging Tina to leave. Tina walked out of the room, heading towards the auditorium where she noticed Marley looking down at sheet music. Marley had a saddened expression on her face, as if she was regretting something. Maybe she was regretting leaving the Glee Club because of Tina's arrogance. Marley heard footsteps, causing her head to shoot up from her position. Tina took a step back, staring at Marley as Marley's face turned cold.

"Great, what do you want?" Marley spoke in a snarky tone, looking back to her sheet music. Tina realized that Marley had every right to be angry with her. Tina wasn't exactly supportive like everyone else in the Glee Club. Tina walked over to Marley, then sat down in one of the chairs on the stage.

"I came to apologize to you…for everything." Tina said. Marley's face softened, taking the seat across from Tina as Tina continued to stare at Marley. "I have been just…awful to you all year long. I thought about everything you said to me last night and I couldn't even go to sleep. Those words were running through my mind. You're right. 20 years from now, it's not going to matter if I got the solo or not because we'll be in the real world. Getting a solo for Nationals isn't going to help me get my dream job. I have to live in the here and the now. It's just that this is my last competition _ever_…I just wanted a chance to showcase my voice and show the world that I'm just as great as Rachel is."

"But you are great Tina." Marley softly said, moving her chair closer to Tina. "I mean, you're fantastic. Your voice is so peaceful and beautiful. And you know what, you're right. You are the one that's graduating. The least I could do is give you the solo for Nationals." Tina shook her head immediately at Marley's offer, a warm smile appearing on her face.

"Mr. Schuester gave _you_ the solo. You deserve to sing it. I'll sing in the senior number. Besides, your songs are amazing. I know that you're going to kill it at Nationals—that is if you want to come back to Glee Club." Tina noticed Marley's face emitting a grin as she hugged Tina. Tina reciprocated the hug, causing the two girls to look at each other. "Next year the Glee Club will be _yours_ and you're gonna have to be the one to keep everyone in shape there. Don't think I won't come back once in a while to check if you're still kicking butt in competitions." Marley giggled and nodded her head, then becoming a bit shy.

"Tina?"

"Yes?" Tina raised an eyebrow with confusion as Marley went to the piano to grab sheet music.

"I was wondering if we could sing together one last time before Nationals and before you graduate." Marley suggested. Tina quickly nodded her head, getting up from her seat and patting Marley on the shoulder.

"I would _love_ that." Tina agreed. Tina and Marley headed over to the Glee room where everyone else was rehearsing for Nationals. When they noticed Tina and Marley with smiles on their faces, the New Direction members couldn't help but clap for the two girls, seeing that they were both finally getting along. "Guys, I just wanted to tell you all how sorry I am for my behavior this semester. I was dumb, wrong and stupid and it won't happen again. There's no "I" in team, and now I know that. In order for us to win Nationals, we have to band together and work together." Everyone continued to stare at Tina, releasing a grin as they clapped their hands together. "But…before we continue practicing for Nationals, Marley and I wanted to sing something for you guys."

"We're gonna win Nationals, and do you know why?" Marley walked over, giving Tina a grin. "Because we're priceless, we're special and a group of us being great friends is rare in a life time—like gold. Hit it, Brad!" As soon as Marley spoke the words, Brad started playing the piano as Marley and Tina danced around the room, getting Brittany, Kitty, Santana and Quinn to join them. They continued to dance around the room, and while Tina and Marley sang, Mr. Schuester, Finn and Rachel had an idea brewing in their minds.

[Marley]  
I've been trying to let it go  
But these butterflies I can't ignore  
Cause every time that I look at you  
Know we're in a catch 22  
We've been friends for so long but I  
Need to tell you what's on my mind  
I'm sick and tired of playing games  
Cause I know that you feel the same

[Tina]  
I know you inside out, so I'm asking now  
Take a chance on me, how much clearer can I be

[Marley and Tina]  
Hey boy, whatcha gonna do  
Don't you want me like I want you  
So man up and make your move  
I'm gold, gold  
You, me, good as can be  
Wanna be more than your company  
So bet your money on me  
I'm gold, gold

[Tina]  
Do I really need to spell it out  
My heart skips when you're around  
I got everything that you need  
So come on baby, get close to me  
So confused and I'm not surprised  
From greater bells, and rolled the dice  
Know all your moves, don't know why I fall  
Should put me out, but I want it all

[Marley]  
I know you inside out, so I'm asking now  
Take a chance on me, how much clearer can I be

[Tina and Marley]  
Hey, boy whatcha gonna do  
If you want me like I want you  
Then man up and make your move  
I'm gold, gold  
You, me good as can be  
Wanna be more than your company  
So bet your money on me  
I'm gold, gold

Ladadadadadadada  
Ladadadadadadada, dadada (Marley: I'm gold, gold)  
Ladadadadadadada  
Ladadadadadadada, dadada (Tina: I'm gold, gold)

As soon as they finished singing, everyone stood up and started clapping their hands wildly. Tina and Marley embraced in a hug as Mr. Schuester got up from his chair, walking over to the girls.

"That was simply fantastic, Tina and Marley. Good job, girls." Mr. Schuester patted their backs then looked over to the other Glee Club members and alumni. "As a matter of fact, we were thinking that since you two have such great chemistry, that you two could be the leads of the group number." Tina and Marley looked at one another then towards Mr. Schuester. He wasn't joking, one bit.

"That's great Mr. Schuester, but it's not going to be some Korean pop song like _Gentleman _or _Gangnam Style_, is it?" Tina shuddered at the thought of doing Korean Pop for Nationals.

"Yeah because having Tina sing it would be kind of racist." Brittany piped up. Mr. Schuester shook his head, letting out a chuckle.

"Nope, since the theme of Nationals is _Inspiration_, I've chosen a song that has a little more inspiration than anything else that anyone can throw out there—and with the help of Finn and Rachel, I've chosen the song _People Like Us _by Kelly Clarkson as our group number." The girls all started clapping their hands as Marley and Tina became excited.

"That means we have to work on vocals, dance steps, everything." Finn got up from his chair, clapping his hands in earnest. "We need to have you guys in top notch shape for Nationals." Marley and Tina went to sit in their seats as Rachel's mind continued to wander. She looked around at New Directions then back at Mr. Schuester and Finn. There was something that Rachel needed to do.

* * *

After Glee Club finished for the day, Rachel waited for Finn, leaning against the wall as he continued to speak to Mr. Schuester. As soon as Finn finished speaking, he exited the room, spotting Rachel there as she let out a grin. Finn intertwined his hand with Rachel's as they walked along the hallway, Rachel giving Finn a small smile.

"I know that smile." Finn said as they reached the courtyard of McKinley. "You want something. What is it?"

"I am shocked that you think that I want something, Finn." Rachel pretended to be shocked. Finn raised an eyebrow as Rachel let out a sigh. "I need to go to visit The Hoosierdaddies." Finn's eyes widened as he shook his head.

"Rachel, I don't know…" Finn shook his head, letting out a sigh.

"Come on, Finn. I mean, we have to get down to the bottom of the reason as to why Frida agreed to help Tina try to sabotage Marley in the first place. I just want some answers." Rachel said.

"But Rachel, we don't need a repeat of what happened to the Warblers." Finn sighed. "I mean, that was really stressful on you and I don't ever want you to go through something like that again."

"But it won't happen if you go with me. My biggest mistake with the Warblers was not telling you right away. If I had then things would have been so different. I just need to talk to Frida, face to face. And you can come with me. I mean, you and me are the perfect team after all." Finn looked over to Rachel, letting out a slight grin as he nodded his head.

"But their school is in Indianapolis which is three hours away, babe." Finn pointed out.

"We can always drive." Rachel put her hand on Finn's chest, looking Finn in the eyes.

"Oh boy, you're making _those_ eyes again." Finn muttered.

"What eyes?" Rachel continued to play innocent.

"The sexy, lust eyes. Those eyes…you know they get to me." Finn continued to mutter as Rachel put her forehead to his.

"Come on, Finn. Please?" Rachel begged. Finn relented, nodding his head slowly.

"Fine but you owe me." Finn said as Rachel pressed a kiss to his lips. Rachel parted after a moment then nuzzled her nose with his.

"I think I can do that." Rachel agreed. Finn and Rachel walked along the courtyard to Finn's car in order to take a long drive to North Central High School.

* * *

Three hours later Finn, Rachel, Quinn, Puck and Santana walked along North Central High School, looking for the choir room. They couldn't believe how gigantic the school was, and they also couldn't believe how pristine and proper it looked. The thought of being in _another_ school looked like it was going to make Puck sick to his stomach, but Rachel had a job to do. She had to talk to Frida Romero and wonder why she had done what she did.

"Now, we have to find the Glee Club." Rachel muttered, looking in each classroom.

"How are we going to find them?" Puck let out a sigh. "I mean this school is bigger than ours. There's no way that we can find it in this place—" Before Puck could finish his sentence, Quinn shushed him, causing everyone to look up the staircase to where the music was. They gave each other a gaze, heading to the room where they saw Frida Romero, practicing with The Hoosierdaddies for Nationals. Finn gave Rachel a quizzical look as Frida belted out notes while the male dancers pranced around her, making her the gigantic spectacle. Quinn and Puck looked threatened, Rachel and Finn looked concerned and Santana simply rolled her eyes, not seeing the big deal of The Hoosierdaddies. Rachel had to admit that she was good—really good. So why would she have to work with Tina in the first place?

[Frida]  
Just do your thing honey!

I could feel it from the start  
Couldn't stand to be apart  
Something about you caught my eye  
Something moved me deep inside  
Don't know what you did boy but you had it  
And I've been hooked ever since  
I told my mother, my brother, my sister and my friend  
I told the others, my lovers both past and present tense  
Every time I see you everything starts making sense

Just do your thing honey!

Ain't no other man , can stand up next to you  
Ain't no other man on the planet does what you do  
You're the kind of guy, a girl finds in a blue moon  
You got soul, you got class  
You've got style, you're so bad  
Ain't no other man it's true,  
Ain't no other man but you

Just do your thing honey!

Never thought I'd be all right [The Hoosierdaddies Males: No, no, no]  
Till you came and changed my life [The Hoosierdaddies Females: Yeah, yeah, yeah]  
What was cloudy now is clear [The Hoosierdaddies Males: Yeah, yeah]  
You're the light that I needed  
You got what I want boy, and I want it  
So keep on giving it up!

Tell your mother, your brother, your sister and your friend  
And the others, your lovers better not be present tense  
Cause I want everyone to know that you are mine and no one elses

Ain't no other man, can stand up next to you  
Ain't no other man, on the planet does what you do [The Hoosierdaddies Females: What you do!]  
You're the kind of guy, a girl finds in a blue moon  
He's got soul, he's got class  
He's got style, you're so bad  
Ain't no other man, it's true  
Ain't no other man but you!

YEAH-EH-YEAH!

Frida turned her head to the door to spot Finn, Rachel, Puck, Quinn and Santana standing there. Frida tapped her foot, opening the door then forcing them inside of the room. Rachel eyed the room, then turned her head back to Finn as Frida gave Rachel steely eyes.

"What are you doing here? Spying on the competition?" Frida scoffed, looking at two of her dancers.

"We're not spying on the competition." Rachel simply said. "We came to talk to you."

"You want to talk to me or you were looking at our set-list for Nationals?" Frida smirked. "We heard about what happened to you when you went to go visit the Warblers, Rachel. I heard the head Warbler Hunter decided that you were some fine picking so he did whatever it took to get is way with you?" Some of the Hoosierdaddies chuckled as Rachel stood as still as a statue. Finn noticed Rachel's expression, then walked over to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Gee Frida, why don't you pick on someone your own size." Finn growled under his breath. Frida simply chuckled, looking over to Rachel.

"So you're fighting her battles? Just like you did with Hunter?"

"All right you little bitch…" Quinn walked up to Frida but was pulled back by Puck. "She can't talk to Rachel like that!"

"I got this…" Santana walked forward towards Frida, giving her a smirk. "How old are you kid? 15? All right, just because you can belt out the lyrics of a Christina Aguilera song doesn't mean that you're old enough to act all big and tough. New Directions is going to wipe the floor with you at Nationals because they know what it's about. This is the first time you've been to Nationals. This is the third time New Directions made it. We have experience."

"Just like Rachel has experience with Hunter?" Frida couldn't help but look over at Rachel with a sly expression.

"Okay, listen here little miss wannabe. I don't know what your problem us, but you need to backs it up. Or else my friends 'fury' and 'pain' will stuff your butt in a trashcan and make sure you never come out." Santana growled. Frida continued to stare at Santana, shaking her head.

"I'm not scared of you." Frida simply said.

"What do you mean you're not afraid of me?_ Everyone's_ afraid of me. Even my parents are afraid of me." Santana snarled.

"Well I'm not. I've got cousins that are five times the size of you…they'll come and make sure that you don't have your legs in the morning." Frida then turned her attention to Rachel who was busy staring over at her. "Now Rachel, I spoke to Hunter with his one phone call…and he wanted me to let you know that he's thinking about you in prison. He hopes that you visit him sometime…he's lonely in there and just wants to _talk_. After all, he knows that you'll sleep with him. Seeing that you sleep around with the competition in order to guarantee a New Directions win. Never thought you'd degrade yourself for show choir. "

"That's it, we're leaving!" Finn turned to Puck as he led Rachel towards the exit. "Puck, grab Santana before she kills Frida. We need her alive for Nationals." Puck nodded his head as he walked over to Santana. Puck picked up Santana as Santana started to lunge for Frida.

"Put me down, Puck! She needs to be taught a lesson!" Santana screamed as Puck led her out the door. Finn, Rachel and Quinn left the room but Frida kept her eyes locked on Rachel.

"It's not long before she's screwing someone in here, Hudson. That's the way Hunter told me Rachel Berry rolls." As Frida's words escaped her mouth, Rachel felt tears stinging her eyes, trying to take deep breaths, and trying her hardest not to cry in front of Finn.

* * *

On the drive home, Finn continued to look over at the passenger's seat, seeing that Rachel was quiet, looking out the window and not saying a word. Santana looked in her small mirror, then looked over to Finn, seeing that there was some slight tension in the car.

"Finn, can we stop to get something to eat? Puck, Quinn and I are starving." Quinn and Puck nodded their heads in agreement, as Finn agreed.

"Sure, yeah…" Finn started looking to see if there was somewhere that they could go to eat, but the more he looked towards the passenger window, the more he noticed Rachel becoming more and more withdrawn. Something was bothering her. But what could it have been? Could it have been the taunting that Frida Romero did back at The Hoosierdaddies rehearsal? Whatever it was, he needed to get to the bottom of it.

* * *

Rachel walked towards the Glee Club after the long bus ride and found herself becoming more stuck than usual. Rachel entered the choir room, spotting Brittany and Mercedes talking with Mike about the dancing routine for Nationals. Rachel went over to one of the seats and sat down, causing Mercedes, Mike and Brittany to look over at her.

"Did you get any dirt on The Hoosierdaddies?" Brittany asked, leaning closer towards Rachel as she let out a sigh.

"Well, there was some kind of dirt that went around—but it wasn't with the Hoosierdaddies." Rachel said. Brittany looked over at Rachel, then noticed that Rachel was fiddling with her hands.

"What are you talking about, Rachel?" Mike asked as Mercedes nodded her head.

"You better spill, girl." Mercedes added. Rachel looked to her three friends but before she could say anything, Quinn and Santana entered the Glee Club, staring over at Rachel.

"Frida Romero psyched Rachel out saying that she was in contact with Hunter Clarington the Third from prison." Santana explained.

"What? She's talking to Hunter? What about?" Brittany wondered.

"Apparently Hunter has been telling everyone that Rachel has been sleeping with different members of the show choir in order to get them to do something wrong so that New Directions would win." Quinn explained.

"What? But that's not true." Mercedes looked to Rachel.

"It doesn't matter if it's real or not. Apparently, it doesn't matter what I say. Everyone in the show choir world believes I'm some sort of whore." Rachel muttered, looking at her friends.

"But we don't think that about you." Santana assured her.

"And we know what Frida is saying is a lie." Quinn added.

"It doesn't matter. Everyone else thinks that and I don't know what I'm going to do. I thought I was done with the whole Hunter thing once and for all but even from prison he's making my life a living hell. What am I gonna do? I mean…it's like it's never going to go away. It's all over for me. My reputation could be tarnished. I could be _fired_ from _Funny Girl_…" Rachel sighed.

"Rachel, it's not over for you though. All there saying is lies." Brittany put a hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"I know Brittany but…ever since we left The Hoosierdaddies schools, I've been getting multiple texts from Frida and her team asking who I'm gonna sleep with next in order to get what I want…a Nationals Championship for New Directions. I hate this…I hate this…" Rachel felt the tears stream down her cheeks as Brad started to play the piano. Santana and Quinn gave Brad a steely glare but Mercedes and Brittany nodded their heads towards them, realizing that the best way for Rachel to get her feelings out in the open was to sing about them.

[Rachel]  
We're driving slow through the snow on fifth avenue  
And right now radio's all that we can hear  
And we ain't talked since we left it's so overdue  
It's cold outside but between us it's worse in here

[Mercedes]  
The world, slows down but my heart beats fast right now  
I know this is the part where the end starts

[Rachel with Mercedes, Santana, Brittany and Quinn]  
I can't take it any longer  
Thought that were stronger  
All we do is linger  
Slipping through my fingers  
I don't wanna try now  
All that's left's goodbye to  
Find a way that I can tell you

[Rachel and Quinn]  
I hate this part right here  
I hate this part right here  
I just can't take these tears  
I hate this part right here

[Brittany]  
Everyday seven takes of the same old scene  
Seems were bound by the laws of the same routine  
Gotta talk to you now before we go to sleep  
But will we sleep once I tell you what's hurting me

[Santana]  
The world slows down but my heart beats fast right now  
I know (Mercedes: I know), this is (Mercedes: This is)

[Santana and Mercedes]  
The part where the end starts

[Rachel and Santana with Mercedes, Brittany and Quinn]  
I can't take it any longer  
Thought that were stronger  
All we do is linger  
Slipping through my fingers  
I don't wanna try now  
All that's left's goodbye to  
Find a way that I can tell you

[Rachel and Quinn]  
I hate this part right here  
I hate this part right here  
I just can't take these tears  
I hate this part right here

[Rachel and Brittany with Quinn]  
I know you'll ask me to hold on  
And carry on like nothing's wrong  
But there is no more time for lies  
Cause I see sunset in your eyes

[Brittany with Quinn, Mercedes and Santana]  
I can't take it any longer  
Thought that were stronger (Rachel: Can't take it)  
All we do is linger  
Slipping through my fingers (Rachel: Slipping through our fingers!)  
I don't wanna try now (Rachel: Try now!)  
All that's left's goodbye to (Rachel: Goodbye now!)  
Find a way that I can tell you

[Rachel]  
That I gotta do it  
I gotta do it  
I gotta do it  
I hate this part  
I gotta do it  
I gotta do it  
I gotta do it

I hate this part right here  
I hate this part right here  
I just can't take these tears  
I hate this part right here

Rachel continued to look at her friends then back down at the latest text message. Rachel noticed that it was from Frida. After a moment, she opened the text message and read what was scripted inside:

_I heard you slept with the judges for the competition. What a slut!_

_Frida Romero_

Rachel continued to look at the text message, then shutting off her phone as the tears poured down her face with her friends comforting her. Rachel couldn't take it anymore. She knew what she had to do.

* * *

Kurt and Blaine were currently sitting in Finn's bedroom as Finn surfed the internet for wedding chapels in Lima. In Kurt and Blaine's hand was none other than their acceptance letters to NYADA. Kurt and Blaine had been waiting for this moment all their lives—and now they were finally going to figure out their fate. Were they going to NYADA in the fall or were they going to have to reapply next semester, causing them to end up in a gigantic loop for four months?

"This is it…" Kurt muttered, staring at the envelope in his hand. Blaine and Kurt eyed one another then looked over to Finn, who was ignoring them.

"Whatever happens Kurt…just know we did this together…" Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand, giving his boyfriend (he loved being able to say that again) a grin.

"You're right, you're right. And we're bound to get back in." Kurt shrugged his shoulders. "But what if we don't? What if I'm forced to continue looking at fabrics for the rest of my life? I don't think I could take the pressure!"

"Can both of you stop acting so dramatic and open the damn envelopes already?" Finn grumbled, looking over at them.

"All right, all right…" Kurt waved Finn off then began opening the envelopes slowly. After ripping it a bit more, he took a deep breath, reading the envelope. Kurt looked up to Blaine, seeing that Blaine was opening his. After a moment, Blaine looked at the letter then looked back at Kurt.

"On the count of three…" Blaine and Kurt eyed one another then nodded their heads. "One, two…three…"

"I GOT IN!" Both of them screamed at the same time. Finn looked over to Kurt and Blaine, seeing that they were hugging and kissing one another. Finn looked back down at the laptop screen then got up from the chair.

"I think I found a chapel that Rachel and I could get married in! I'm gonna run it by her. Where is she anyway?" Finn looked to Kurt and Blaine, seeing that they were in their own little world.

"Oh, she's in the bathroom, showering." Kurt said then turned back to Blain.

"Anyway…congrats on getting into NYADA. You're with the big boys now." Finn smirked then started walking towards the bathroom. Finn knocked on the door, the smile growing on his face. "Rachel! Guess what! I found the chapel where we could get married! All you have to do is say yes!" Finn's smile slightly faltered when after a moment, he didn't hear anything coming from the other end of the bathroom. Santana came up the stairs, giving Finn a sigh.

"She's been hogging the bathroom. She's been in there for an hour and yet…I've heard nothing…" Santana shrugged. Finn looked over to the door then knocked again.

"Rachel, Santana has to use the bathroom. Are you done yet?" Finn asked. He suddenly became worried when he didn't hear anything come from the opposite side of the door. "Santana, get the key to the bathroom off the hook downstairs, hurry!" Finn looked over at Santana who ran down the stairs to get the keys. Blaine and Kurt came out of Finn's room as Finn began to pace back and forth.

"What's going on?" Kurt asked. Santana returned with the keys, handing them to Finn as Finn started to open the door to the bathroom. As soon as Finn heard the click, he opened the door and the scene before him caused his heart to shatter in a million pieces, his face to turn completely pale and his expression to contort in fear.

"RACHEL!"

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Gold by Victoria Justice (Sung by Marley Rose and Tina Cohen-Chang), Ain't No Other Man by Christina Aguilera (Sung by The Hoosierdaddies), I Hate This Part by The Pussycat Dolls (Sung by Rachel Berry, Mercedes Jones, Quinn Fabray, Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez)_


	54. Finchel & ND: Hold My Hand

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Tina and Marley made up and are now friends and they even sang a song to the Glee Club. Rachel convinced Finn that she wanted to see Frida Romero and ask her why she was being mean to Tina, but they all found out that Frida's kind of mean herself. Also, Frida had been talking to Hunter while he was in jail and now the entire show choir world thinks that Rachel sleeps around. Apparently the text messages and the lies became too much for Rachel. Blaine and Kurt found out they both got into NYADA and Finn was about to tell Rachel where he wanted to get married until he broke into the bathroom and he looked upset, although we don't know why. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee but I sure wish I did. **

**Note: Here's the newest chapter and it's Part 2 to the previous chapter. In this chapter (right away actually) we find out what Finn saw in the bathroom via a flashback. I tried to make this chapter powerful hence why I cut back on the songs (there's only one) and focused more on dialogue. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

Finn continued to sit in the hospital waiting room, fiddling with the wedding ring on his hand. He looked down at it, feeling the tears in his eyes accumulate as they streamed down his face. He sniffled a moment, thinking of the scene that had unfolded in the bathroom, realizing that he had never been so petrified in his entire life.

* * *

_Finn, Santana, Kurt and Blaine felt their heart race when they saw Rachel lying on the ground, looking as if she was peacefully sleeping. The way that Finn knew that Rachel wasn't sleeping by choice was when he saw an empty bottle of prescription pills lying next to her. Finn quickly ran over to Rachel, leaning down as he started to check if he could feel a pulse in Rachel's wrist. Santana whipped out her phone as she began to dial 911, as Finn continued to look for a pulse._

"_I…I can't find a pulse. I CAN'T FIND A PULSE!" Finn started screaming. Kurt and Blaine ran over to Finn's side as they started to check for a pulse on Rachel, just to make sure that she was still with them, even if a little bit. Kurt put his two fingers on Rachel's neck, then looked over to Finn and Blaine nodding his head slowly._

"_She has a pulse but it's faint." Kurt assured Finn. Finn looked over at Santana who finished putting her phone away and walked over to them. _

"_An ambulance is coming. There's nothing we can do for now until they get here. Is she alive?" Santana's voice sounded a bit shaky as Kurt nodded his head._

"_B…barely. She's barely alive." Kurt looked to Finn seeing that he was hyperventilating. _

"_Blaine, get Finn out of here. Kurt and I will stay with Rachel for now. Call Mr. Schue, Carole and Burt." Santana ordered. Blaine helped Finn off the floor as Finn tried to break out of Blaine's grasp._

"_I can't leave her there Blaine! Let me go! LET ME GO!" Finn bellowed._

"_FINN! There's nothing you can do right now! We need to get you out of here! Rachel is going to be fine." Blaine tried to assure Finn but Finn shook his head._

"_I can't lose her Blaine! I can't…I…" Finn broke down and started to cry as Blaine patted Finn's back._

"_And we're not going to lose Rachel. Now let's get out of here. You're getting delirious." Blaine led Finn out of the bathroom, but Finn turned around to get one last glimpse of Rachel, lying on the floor unconscious. _

* * *

Finn continued to look at his wedding ring, then heard someone walking towards him. Finn looked up to spot Carole looking at her son as Finn felt like he was going to break down and cry again. Carole sat down and patted Finn's back, pulling her son into a hug as he started to cry like a four year old child.

"It's okay baby…it's okay…" Carole consoled her son as Finn continued to sob. "I know, I know…" Carole noticed Finn trying to compose himself as he looked over at his mother.

"Is she okay?" Finn found the strength to say. Carole looked at Finn then nodded her head.

"I spoke to the doctor. They said that she's going to be fine and it was a good thing that you found her when you did. She's stable but she's still sleeping." Carole softly told her son. Finn shook his head, running his hands through his hair, then looking over to his mother.

"Why would she do something like that? How could she be so _selfish_?" Finn sounded a bit upset and bitter as he spoke. "How could she be willing to leave me like that?!"

"Finn, I don't have all the answers, but you have to understand where Rachel was coming from. I'm not saying that ever attempting suicide is okay…but she's gone through so much in the past year. She may have felt overwhelmed."

"I don't care if she was feeling overwhelmed. She could have come to me and we could have talked about this." Finn sighed. Finn noticed Santana walking over to them as she kept her eyes on Finn.

"Finn, I think I know why Rachel did what she did." Santana muttered.

"Why? Why did she do this?" Finn got up from his seat, looking at Santana.

"Frida and other show choirs that we've competed against have been sending her text messages about Hunter and how he's been telling everyone that Rachel has been sleeping around. We know it's not true but, I was going through her phone and some of these texts she was getting were pretty bad." Santana took out Rachel's phone, scrolling through it then showing Finn a couple of them. "One of them says, '_Gee Rachel, I never knew you were such a whore_'. That one was from one of the dancers that graduated from Vocal Adrenaline. '_Wow Rachel, I never thought that you would do something so degrading you disgusting pig._' That was from Harmony of The Unitards. '_Why don't you just kill yourself and save yourself the embarrassment of your actions you, slut._' That was from The Starlight Knights. '_I heard you slept with the judges for the competition. What a slut_.' And that one was from Frida Romero and The Hoosierdaddies. Even behind bars, Hunter is able to make Rachel's life a living hell by brainwashing the rest of the show choir world. And imagine if this had gotten out. Imagine if they had fired her from _Funny Girl_ because of all these lies and the controversy. Rachel has a lot to lose, and she figured the best way to get rid of her problems was to get rid of herself. Why she didn't talk to you, I don't know. But, Rachel felt that she was alone. Even with having friends—she probably felt that she was going through this on her own." Finn continued to stare over at Santana, impressed that Santana was able to get inside Rachel's mind and pinpoint how she was feeling. Finn let out a shaky deep breath as he looked at Rachel's phone.

"What the hell am I going to do?" Finn asked.

"What do you mean what you're going to do?" Santana shook her head, trying to process a plan in her mind. "We're going to have everyone who wrote these texts arrested, that's what we're going to do."

"Santana. We can't do that." Finn sighed.

"What do you mean we can't do that? Rachel almost died, Finn. Because of these people. If she had died, then they were just as responsible for her death." Santana tried to reason with him.

"But she's not dead. She's fine." Finn quickly cut in, not wanting to think of Rachel losing her life.

"I know she's fine, but they put her through a lot of emotional stress, Finn." Santana put a hand on Finn's shoulder. Finn and Santana looked at the doctor walking over to them as she looked to Finn.

"Rachel Hudson?" The doctor softly said. Finn looked over to the doctor as he quickly nodded his head.

"Is she okay?" Finn asked.

"She's fine. We were able to save her in time. She's awake now if you want to see her. However, she's under 48 hour suicidal watch, just be sure that she doesn't do something like this again." The doctor advised Finn.

"So she's gonna be here for the next two days?" Finn questioned.

"Yes, she is." The doctor said. Finn nodded his head, stuffing his hand in his pockets.

"Can I see her?" Finn wondered. The doctor nodded her head, leading Finn to the room where they kept Rachel. Finn noticed a couple of doctors writing down something on their clipboards as they came out of Rachel's room, making Finn feel a bit uncomfortable. "What are they writing?"

"They're just evaluating her." The doctor assured him.

"By what, making her feel like a loon?" Finn sounded a bit argumentative.

"It's just precautionary, Mr. Hudson I promise you." The doctor led Finn to the room as he looked inside. Rachel was staring out into space, and it was beginning to scare him. "I'll leave you two alone." The doctor patted Finn's shoulder then made her way down the hall. Finn slowly walked into the room, keeping his hands in his pockets as he observed Rachel. He decided to sit in one of the chairs as the silence filled the room. After a moment, Rachel looked over to Finn, seeing that he was just staring at her as if he were studying her. Rachel didn't know whether she should start the conversation first, but thought against it when Finn took a deep breath and let it out.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked in a soft voice, causing Rachel to look confused. She was expecting Finn to yell at her for being so stupid, how she almost could have lost her life and all he had to say was if she was okay? Rachel didn't understand. Finn noticed Rachel looking over at him as he shook his head. "Of course you're not okay." Finn got up from his chair and walked over to Rachel, looking into her eyes. Rachel looked away from Finn, not wanting to make eye contact with him. All she saw in those three seconds of staring into his eyes were anger and grief. The grief that she had caused him when he found her unconscious in the bathroom. The anger she caused him when he wasn't sure if she was going to make it, leaving him to attempt to face a reality of a world without her. She knew where Finn was getting at without him having to say a word. She knew he was disappointed, but he also wanted to help her. She just couldn't take it anymore. "So you're not going to say anything to me? Not one word?" Finn kneeled down to Rachel's eye level, causing her to look at Finn once again. "You're not going to explain to me why you did what you did and how you could be so _stupid_ as to try to take your own life away?!" Finn's voice began to rise as Rachel stared at him. "You're not going to tell me that you were being harassed by every show choir out there and yet you thought the best way that you could make your problems go away is to try to overdose?! And I'm guessing you weren't going to at least come to me so we could work this out together?! Is that what you're not going to tell me?!"

"You don't know what I've been through, Finn!" Rachel yelled at him. "I've been through a lot! And you're just going to sit there and reprimand me like I'm a child?"

"Hell right I am! Rachel, what you did had to be the stupidest, idiotic thing in the entire world! How could you be so willing to leave me behind?! I thought marriage was working through our problems together, no matter how hard they were. I guess you were trying to take the easy way out!" Finn continued to feel frustrated as he started at Rachel. The more he yelled at her, the angrier he became.

"Finn! You don't know what I've been going through, okay?!" Rachel felt the tears come to her eyes as Finn crossed his arms.

"Okay, so what don't I know that you've went through? Huh? Please explain this to me!" Finn felt his voice crack but he attempted to keep his composure.

"I was raped, Finn! I don't think that's something that you can easily forget when everyone around you is shoving that fact in your damn face!" Rachel felt her voice crack as she started to cry once again. Finn's face immediately softened, realizing that Rachel had been trying to be strong all this time—but the fact that Hunter violated her had her as an emotional wreck. "Hunter messed with my life Finn…he abused me and he almost killed you. He then told Frida everything from his twisted point of view and now I'm viewed as probably a hooker by the entire show choir industry. I'm not respected anymore. All that respect is down the toilet and because of Hunter, I could lose my role in _Funny Girl_."

"Wait…what do you mean you could lose your role in _Funny Girl?" _Finn wondered, his voice softening as he walked closer to her.

"I got a call from the director. He said that I better find a way to clean up all the controversy or he's going to be quick to replace me. He doesn't care if I have star quality…he doesn't want an actress that brings controversy to his theatre." Rachel wiped her tears, looking away. "I had everything to lose all because of him." Finn took one of the chairs and sat by Rachel's bedside, running a hand through her hair.

"You weren't going to lose everything." Finn assured her. Rachel looked over to Finn, not sure what he meant.

"What do you mean by that?" Rachel felt her voice crack as Finn took his free hand and wiped her eyes.

"You weren't going to lose me. You never were going to lose me, Rachel. Hunter could have said anything he wanted and I wouldn't budge. I would still be here for you. You also still have your friends. You have Quinn, Santana, Kurt, Puck, Mike, Brittany, Marley, Tina, Blaine…the Glee Club. You have Mr. Schue. You have my mom and dad…you have your dads. Hunter could have said anything he wanted but everyone I said wouldn't change the way they feel about you, because they know what kind of person you are…"

"A pain in the ass?" Rachel muttered as Finn slightly chuckled.

"Yes…" Finn had to agree, but then cleared his throat as he looked at her. "But you're _our_ pain in the ass…and we love you, so much Rachel. Let everyone else think what they want to think. They're missing out on seeing such an amazing girl like you. And I want this to be the last time you ever try to harm yourself. I don't ever want to see you do something like this again. Seeing you lying in that bathroom unconscious, it scared me. I felt like I was going to lose you. I've almost lost you multiple times but…this time could have been permanent. I never would have seen you again and…I would have been so lost Rachel." Rachel heard Finn sniffle a little bit as he wiped some of the tears he had falling from his eyes. "I'm sorry, I…I just…I realized that you mean the world to me and…ever since the day I first lay my eyes on you I knew you were special. And…I was afraid I was never going to see that special face or smile ever again. Rachel, I don't ever want to go through this again. I don't want to go through a mindset where I have to think about what I'd do if I lost you. I couldn't live with myself if I had to…" Finn then unexpectedly broke down and started crying, causing Rachel to cry as well. Rachel pulled in Finn for a hug as they both cried together. After what seemed like an eternity, Rachel wiped her tears, looking into Finn's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Finn…I didn't mean to cause you so much pain. I really didn't mean to." Rachel muttered. Finn looked into Rachel's eyes as she brushed a tear from his face. "I promise…I'll never do something like this again…" Finn nodded his head, then leaned in to kiss Rachel. Rachel wasn't expecting Finn to just kiss her, but she sensed the passion, the hunger in his kiss and quickly responded. After having their lips locked in a passionate state for what seemed to be a while, Finn broke the kiss slowly, then wrapped his arms around Rachel's neck.

"I love you, Rachel." Finn muttered into her ear as Rachel held onto Finn as tightly as she could.

"I love you too, Finn. Forever and ever." Rachel added; the both of them not letting each other go.

* * *

The doctors had allowed Finn to stay overnight with Rachel, which made Finn a bit relieved that he didn't have to leave Rachel alone at the hospital. However, Rachel learned that being under 48 hour suicide watch wasn't fun. The doctors would come in and jot things down, then leave. It made her feel like she was their personal guinea pig. After they agreed to let her get some sleep, they closed the door to the room as Finn looked over at her. Finn shut the blinds that covered the door and the window, walking over to her and sitting in the chair next to her bedside.

"You know you can just climb up here…" Rachel moved over and patted the bed so that Finn could get on as well.

"Yeah, I could but I like the chair better." Finn slightly lied. Rachel shook her head then laid down, grabbing Finn's hand and looking at his wedding ring. Rachel felt the guilt return as she looked into Finn's eyes, giving him a saddened look.

"I'm really sorry about the hell I put you through, Finn. I've been questioning why you're still here even though I messed up badly and almost ruined everyone's lives." Rachel sighed. Finn saw the hurt in Rachel's eyes and motioned for her to move over on the bed so that he could sit down with her. Finn kicked off his shoes and got on the bed, wrapping his arm around Rachel and grabbing her hand.

"Because I love you…" Finn said.

"Well you really shouldn't especially after I made you cry today. I never wanted to be that person that made you cry, but I did." Rachel leaned her head on Finn's shoulder.

"Rachel…I'm human and I'm going to cry. And I was crying because of the fact that I was scared to lose you. It's not like you stabbed someone that was close to me and dunked my car into a river. I just don't ever want to see you hurt yourself. The image of seeing you like that is going to be in my brain for a long time, but…I'm still here because you need someone and I need someone. We need each other. We're like Nick and Fanny from _Funny Girl_ without the whole embezzlement and jail thing." Finn slightly chuckled. Rachel looked into Finn's eyes, letting out a small grin.

"You know, I'm still touched you saw _Funny Girl_ for me." Rachel told him.

"And I'd watch any other Broadway musical just to make you happy." Finn promised. "The director's not going to get rid of you. Where would he find someone as talented and beautiful as you? You're one of a kind, Rachel…and he'd be stupid to let you go because of a stupid rumor."

"You really think so?" Rachel asked.

"I _know_ so." Finn assured her. Rachel pressed a kiss to Finn's cheek then tried to get as comfortable on the hospital bed as she could. She didn't anticipate the bed being this small.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Rachel wondered.

"48 hours." Finn seriously told her. "But, good news is 5 hours went by already and I'm not leaving your side for nothing."

"Do you think we'll still go to New York in time to see Nationals?" Rachel wondered.

"You'd still want to go and see Nationals?" Finn asked.

"It's the last time some of our friends are performing as High School students. Next year they'll be off to college and doing their own thing and they won't be in show choir anymore." Rachel admitted.

"You're right, but they'll be fine. I'm sure of it." Finn pressed a kiss on Rachel's forehead. "Get some sleep, okay?"

"Oh, can you do me one favor though?" Rachel asked.

"What's that?"

"Can you bring me some real food? The hospital food tastes like garbage." Rachel muttered as she began to feel sleepy.

"In the morning, I will do just that. Now get some sleep, baby." Finn cuddled up next to Rachel as she leaned into his touch.

"I love you Finn…" Rachel mumbled, then fell asleep. Finn looked at Rachel with a loving grin, then leaned down and fell asleep.

"I love you too, Rach." Finn softly said as he fell back asleep.

* * *

The next afternoon, the Glee Club were standing on the stage, practicing their three numbers for Nationals, but a lot of them had trouble focusing when they realized that Rachel wasn't there. Rachel had been the heart and soul of the New Directions show choir before she graduated, and the current New Directions felt that it was only fair that Rachel should have been there sitting with them, watching them and critiquing them on what went wrong with their performance. Mr. Schuester even had to admit that their performance wasn't as up to par as he usually expected. Mr. Schuester knew that Rachel meant a lot to the Glee club, even if she wasn't in the club anymore. He had to admit when he got the news that Rachel was in the hospital after attempting to commit suicide; he was as shocked as anyone. Not Rachel Berry, the girl who had the ambitions of being a star on Broadway. Not the Rachel Berry that always looked like she was going to fight head on and not let anyone or anything get in her way. Mr. Schuester realized that maybe, Rachel was better at acting than they all thought. She never let anyone see what she was really thinking—until the fateful event with Hunter Clarington the Third. Ever since then, there was a change in Rachel. Sure, she would try to act like the same person she was before, but she was different. She was more hesitant about trying things. She was a little more withdrawn and she spent all of her free time either with Finn to prepare for _Funny Girl_. She had buried herself into her work as a distraction, hoping that if she tasted success, she would feel different, more like herself. Mr. Schuester should have seen the signs, and he even mentioned it to Principal Figgins in his office that morning when Figgins also heard the news.

* * *

"_These situations are quite dangerous and serious." Principal Figgins spoke to Mr. Schuester as soon as he heard the news, instructing him to sit down. "I never would have guessed Rachel would have done something like this."_

"_Neither have I. She always seemed so happy." Mr. Schuester added. "I guess we all thought she was fine but in reality, she wasn't. I have to admit, trying to forget something like that is hard, and it's difficult to put behind for a person. It would be easier to tell her to move on from the situation but we weren't there. We didn't know how she felt when she woke up in that hotel room after being drugged, knowing she had been violated. It's a tough and touchy subject for her. I wish there was something that we could do for her."_

"_William, with all due respect, there's nothing that you can _do_ for her." The voice that was neither Mr. Schuester nor Principal Figgins said. They both turned their heads to find Sue Sylvester standing there, walking into the room. "I couldn't help but ease drop on your conversation as you were talking about Barbra Streisand's clone and how she was violated by that chiseled yet somewhat handsome Warbler. The point is you're all looking at this wrong." _

"_How are we looking at it wrong?" Mr. Schuester crossed his arms, staring at Sue. _

"_Everyone is saying what you're going to do for her. There's nothing you can do _for_ her." Sue simply said. _

"_But of course there's something we…" Principal Figgins started to speak but Sue put her hand up._

"_I clearly wasn't finished yet." Sue turned her attention back to Mr. Schuester. "The question you should be asking is what you could do to _help_ her. She needs help, Will. If her being in the hospital after attempting suicide because of Hunter wasn't enough, it's probably decided that she needs someone to help her. Asking what you can do for her makes it sound like you're sorry _for_ her. You need to help her. Not feel sorry for her. Then she'll really feel like no one cares." After Sue finished speaking, Principal Figgins and Mr. Schuester looked at one another, then turned back to Sue. _

"_My goodness…that has to be the most logical thing Sue has ever said." Mr. Schuester's eyes widened. _

"_I have to agree…what did you do with the real Sue Sylvester?" Principal Figgins asked. Sue rolled her eyes then turned to Mr. Schuester._

"_You want to help Rachel, then get together with your Glee Club. Maybe they have an idea or something." Sue walked away from them as Principal Figgins and Mr. Schuester eyed one another. Maybe Sue had a point after all…_

* * *

"Mr. Schue?" Mr. Schuester was knocked out of his thoughts when Tina poked him. Mr. Schuester looked to Tina, nodding his head. "We can't do this…"

"What…what do you mean?" Mr. Schuester asked, seeing that all of New Directions were sitting down on the stage, looking worried.

"We can't do this without Rachel." Marley clarified as Tina nodded her head.

"Rachel is the heart and soul of New Directions. She's the success story. We can't do this without her." Tina sighed.

"We need her to tell us what we're doing wrong. Something feels off about our performance." Kitty added.

"I'm pretty sure that I can tell you what's wrong with your performance." Jake chided as Kitty put a finger up towards him.

"Nobody asked you." Kitty said.

"All right guys…" Mr. Schuester looked at them then sighed. "We're gonna have to do this without Rachel for the time being. She's in the hospital right now, and Finn said she'll be out and back with the Glee Club tomorrow. We need to keep a strong front for her."

"But is there anything that we can do to help her?" Marley asked. Mr. Schuester looked at Marley with amazement, while the rest of the Glee Club nodded their heads.

"Yes…there is something we can do." Santana spoke up from her seat, getting up while the rest of the alumni got up from their seats with a smirk. "We have to work on this together…and we'll need Finn's help."

* * *

The next afternoon, Rachel was finally discharged from the hospital but Finn promised to keep a close eye on Rachel. The first place he was going to keep a close eye on Rachel? McKinley. As Finn and Rachel walked along the hallways, Rachel felt the stares of the students creep on her, as she turned to Finn with an uneasy expression.

"I don't know, maybe we should get out of here." Rachel whispered to Finn.

"Rachel, this is McKinley, you're safe here." Finn assured her with a soft tone.

"I don't know about that." Rachel shook her head, trying to keep her composure.

"I know one place where you _will_ feel safe. Come on, let's go to the auditorium." Finn walked to the auditorium, gripping Rachel's hand tightly as they entered. Rachel looked to see her friends and fellow Glee Clubbers standing on the stage, ecstatic that she had returned. Rachel and Finn walked down the long ramp down to the front of the auditorium as Finn turned to her. "Everyone was really worried about you and they wanted to do something nice for you."

"Like what?" Rachel asked. She then turned to Quinn who walked over to her.

"Rachel, we know that you were in a dark place for a while and we completely understand that. But know that there are better ways to deal with your depression than just trying to harm yourself. Doing that to yourself will also harm others." Rachel noticed Brittany walking over with a business card in her hand.

"We did some research and we want you to speak to someone about your feelings. She's more of a psychiatrist and not a shrink—plus she's the best in New York. We did a lot of research, well, some of the other members did because I thought the 'x' on the windows programs meant that we were hunting for buried treasure." Brittany added. Rachel took the card and started looking through it.

"We made an appointment for you on Monday. This will be good for you." Santana chimed in.

"You've been keeping your feelings bottled up for a little too long and it's gotten to the point where you're doing things that are a bit crazy." Finn looked to Rachel as she turned to face him. "You need to talk to someone about it. And, you just have to go to this one meeting. If you like it then, that's great you can sign up for another meeting. If not then we'll think of something else. We're with you every step of the way, and we'll guide you through whatever you're going through. That's how much we love and care about you." Rachel released a grin to Finn as she looked down at the calling card.

"Thank you all…so much. I really appreciate it." Rachel put the card in her purse as Finn led her up the stairs of the auditorium into one of the stools. "What, what are you doing?"

"We also prepared a little something for you." Quinn released a smile.

"We thought that you would want to hear us sing." Brittany innocently said with a wide grin. Rachel chuckled, looking at her friends.

"Well of course I want to hear you guys sing." Rachel nodded her head as Finn walked over with the other Glee Clubbers.

"This one's for you, Rachel." Finn continued to look right at her as Brad started to play the song. Rachel continued to stare at her friends, seeing them sing their way into her heart. Rachel felt so lucky to have friends that cared about her, and she was even more grateful about the friends she made throughout this year.

[Finn]  
Ooh, oooh

This life don't last forever (New Directions: Hold my hand)  
So tell me what we're waiting for (New Directions: Hold my hand)  
We're better off being together (New Directions: Hold my hand)  
Than being miserable, alone (New Directions: Hold my hand)

[Mercedes with Quinn, Sugar and Kitty]  
Cause I've been there before  
And you've been there before  
But together we will be all right  
Cause when it gets dark  
And when it gets cold  
We'll hold each other till we see the sunlight

[Santana]  
So if you just

[New Directions]  
Hold my hand

[Brittany]  
Baby I promise that I'll do

[New Directions]  
All I can

[Jake]  
Things will get better if you just

[New Directions]  
Hold my hand

[Puck]  
Nothing can come between us if you just

[New Directions]  
Hold my  
Hold my  
Hold my hand

[Tina and Mike]  
The night's are getting darker (New Directions: Hold my hand)

[Kurt and Blaine]  
And there's no peace inside (New Directions: Hold my hand)

[Marley and Jake]  
So why make our lives harder (New Directions: Hold my hand)

[Ryder and Kitty]  
By fighting love tonight (New Directions: Hold my hand)

[Artie with Finn, Puck and Mike]  
Cause I've been there before  
And you've been there before  
But together we will be all right  
Cause when it gets dark  
And when it gets cold  
We'll hold each other till we see the sunlight

[Mercedes]  
So if you just

[New Directions]  
Hold my hand

[Finn]  
Baby I promise that I'll do

[New Directions]  
All I can

[Brittany]  
Things will get better if you just

[New Directions]  
Hold my hand

[Blaine]  
Nothing can come between is if you just

[New Directions]  
Hold my  
Hold my  
Hold my hand

[Santana and Brittany]  
I can tell that you're tired of being lonely  
Take my hand, don't let go baby hold me  
Come to me and let me be you're one and only  
Cause I can make it all right till the morning

[Puck and Quinn]  
I can tell that you're tired of being lonely  
Take my hand, don't let go baby hold me  
Come to me and let me be you're one and only  
Cause I can make it all right to the morning

[New Directions]  
Hold my hand

[Tina]  
Baby I promise that I'll do

[New Directions]  
All I can

[Ryder]  
Things will get better if you just

[New Directions]  
Hold my hand

[Finn]  
Nothing can come between us if you just

[New Directions]  
Hold my  
Hold my  
Hold my hand  
Hold my hand (Finn: Yeah, yeah)  
All I can (Finn: Hold my hand)  
Hold my hand (Artie: Nothing can come between us if you just)  
Hold my  
Hold my  
Hold my hand (Finn: Hold my hand)

[Finn]  
Hold my hand

As soon as the song finished, Rachel felt tears fall down the sides of her cheeks as a smile was plastered on her face. Everyone had cared so much about her that they even sung a song for her! Rachel gave Finn a hug as he smiled down at her, followed by the rest of New Directions to give her a warm hug. Mr. Schuester was watching in the background, giving a warm smile towards his team. They really cared about one another, and it was evident. Mr. Schuester clapped his hands as everyone turned towards him, releasing a grin.

"Now that's what I'm talking about. Great job, guys." Mr. Schuester beamed towards the New Direction and the alumni. Rachel wiped her tears then got out of Finn's grasp.

"Thank you all so much for that beautiful rendition of that song. I couldn't have sung it any better than you guys just did." Rachel turned to them.

"Yes you could have, you're just saying that." Santana let out a slight chuckle.

"No, I mean it…because when you sang it, it came from the heart and it was beautiful." Rachel said. "If I had just sung it, I wouldn't have known what I was singing it for. So thank you. Now, enough about me…we still have Nationals to train for. The plane to New York leaves tomorrow so we need to get into tip-top shape."

"So you're gonna go and see us perform? Even with Frida Romero there?" Kitty asked.

"Of course, because I'm not there to see her. I'm there to see you." Rachel looked to them. "Now, let's take _People Like Us_ from the top. Tina, Marley, Brittany, Kitty, let's go." The girls quickly did as they were told as the guys went off to the side. Finn continued to stare over at Rachel, flashing a smile towards her. He had a strong feeling that Rachel was going to be just fine—for now at least.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Hold My Hand by Michael Jackson & Akon (Sung by Finn Hudson, Mercedes Jones, Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce, Jake Puckerman, Noah "Puck" Puckerman, Tina Cohen-Chang, Mike Chang, Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Marley Rose, Ryder Lynn, Kitty Wilde, Artie Abrams and Quinn Fabray with New Directions [Excluding Rachel])_


	55. TRAGEDY

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Rachel came out of the hospital after attempting suicide and had Finn and New Direction's support for her. New Directions is getting ready for Nationals in New York and they hope to take down The Hoosierdaddies who are led by Frida Romero, the same girl that caused Rachel to go to the hospital in the first place. And that's what you missed on, GLEE.**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did.**

**Note: As we all know by now, Gleeks lost an important person today. Cory Monteith (who plays Finn Hudson) passed away last night after being found in his hotel room in Vancouver. Let us take a moment and offer our condolences to the Glee Cast, Cory's family and to Lea Michele, the one who wanted to love Cory more. If Finn is going to die in Glee, I wanted him to die a hero. So, here is the final chapter to feature Finn Hudson as our lovable New Direction lead-and you might want some tissues. This is for you, Cory. **

* * *

Friday afternoon, Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Santana entered the loft, taking in the sight. Rachel missed the smells of the loft, the sights, she even missed the bedroom where Finn and her would spend all of their night hours with one another. She glanced over at Finn, seeing that he was giving her a warm smile. Rachel couldn't believe that she thought the right way to get rid of her problems was to rid herself—with her seeing that, maybe she wouldn't have to go and see someone for help on Monday. Maybe. Rachel entered the bedroom, placing her suitcase down as she started to take out her clothes and place them in the drawers. Fin entered the room, stuffing his hands in his pockets, watching Rachel finishing her unpacking. Finn cleared his throat, causing Rachel to turn back at him with a slight grin.

"Are you almost done?" Finn asked as Rachel turned back around and continued to unpack.

"Almost. I just have one more bundle of clothes to put away and then we can go meet the Glee Club at the hotel they're staying at." Rachel said. Finn walked over to her, studying her for a moment.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just putting my clothes away." Rachel smiled for Finn in hopes to get him off her back. Finn however, didn't budge.

"Rachel, Regionals is on Sunday night. I'm sure that we can have some downtime with the Glee Club before they have to get back to rehearsing." Finn reasoned. Rachel raised an eyebrow, scratching her hair.

"They want to win a National Championship, right? So they have to get whipped into shape if they have any chance of beating the Starlight Knights and The Hoosierdaddies." Rachel explained.

'Is this about The Hoosierdaddies or is this about you vs. Frida?" Finn wondered. Rachel shook her head, not understanding what Finn was talking about.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"I mean that you're still upset with what happened with you and Frida back in Lima that you're willing to get back at her by using the Glee Club as an excuse." Finn clarified. "Rachel, the Glee Club can only do so much. I know you see yourself in Marley and I know that you're trying to push her to be the best that she can be, but New Directions is already down packed. The vocals are excellent, the dancing is superb and the girls are going to shine during that girls number. Just relax a bit." Finn put a comforting hand on Rachel's arm as she nodded her head. "You know, I have a great idea on how to cheer you up."

"How?" Rachel asked.

"A slumber party." Finn quickly answered. Rachel became skeptical.

"A slumber party?" Rachel repeated.

"Yes. I mean, it's what every girl dreams of. You can have all the New Directions girls, Santana, Quinn, Mercedes, Kurt and you guys can all do each other's makeup and do each other's hair and whatever stuff girls do at a slumber party." Finn plotted. "And since it's a girl's slumber party, I can hang out with the guys of New Directions. It would be no problem for me."

"And you think a slumber party is going to help?" Rachel continued to seem unconvinced by the situation.

"I think a slumber party is exactly what you need." Finn smiled. "A girl's night in with the girls and Kurt is exactly what you need. I'll even leave _Rock Band_ playing for you guys so you can sing to your heart's content…as long as you don't bug the neighbors." After hearing a chance for Rachel to shine, she quickly grinned, nodding her head.

"All right then." Rachel agreed. Finn pumped his fist in the air as Rachel giggled slightly. Maybe tonight would be just the thing to distract Rachel from her quest of trying to win New Directions a National Championship. Finn placed a kiss on Rachel's forehead, then headed towards the living room to get his suitcase. "Where are you going?"

"I have to get my stuff." Finn said, going into the kitchen. "I left my suitcases in the living room." Rachel shook her head with amusement at her husband, then going back to undoing the suitcase. Maybe a slumber party was just what Rachel needed. She'd have a bunch of her closest friends there, and maybe she could convince them that she was perfectly fine and that there was nothing wrong with her.

* * *

The New Directions walked along Broadway in Times Square as Mr. Schuester led them to one of the nearby hotels that the choir groups were going to be staying in for the weekend. Marley marveled at all the lights and buildings. She hadn't been in New York before and she promised her mom that she would take a lot of pictures for her. Marley looked over to Kitty who shared the same enthusiastic grin with her. The New Directions were ready to take New York by storm—thanks to the help of the alumni that were going to be there to watch them attempt to win another National Championship. As the New Directions entered the hotel, Marley's mouth opened widely, staring at the fancy lobby. Her mother was never able to afford bringing her to a fancy hotel, so just to be there was a life changing experience—even if it was for the weekend.

"All right guys. Let's get you guys into your rooms and then let's head to the auditorium for practice." Mr. Schuester clapped his hands. The kids slightly groaned over at Mr. Schuester as Kitty let out a sigh.

"Mr. Schuester, we've been practicing our butts off for Nationals. It's not every day that we get to see New York City. Why can't we go sightseeing for a bit?" Kitty asked.

"Because we're not here for a vacation." Mr. Schuester quickly answered. "Now, let's get you in your rooms and—where is Jake and Ryder?!" Mr. Schuester looked around seeing that the Puckerman had disappeared along with Ryder.

"I last saw them back towards the bar." Sugar shrugged her shoulders, pointing towards the bar.

"Great. Puckerman 2.0." Mr. Schuester muttered under his breath as he left to find Jake and Ryder. Marley continued to look over at Kitty as she let out an impatient sigh.

"Something wrong, Marley?" Artie rolled next to her, staring at her.

"It's just…we're in one of the most exciting cities in the world and we're being forced to practice until our vocal cords bleed." Marley sighed. "I want to do something fun!"

"And what exactly would that be?" Kitty asked.

"We could explore New York…" Tina suggested.

"Yeah, we did that once. I remember that." Sam smiled over at Tina as she nodded her head.

"That sounds like a good plan, but where would we go?" Blaine asked.

"I think I have an idea on where we could go…" Marley's face turned into a mischievous grin, then turning back to Mr. Schuester who was bringing Jake and Ryder back to the rest of the group.

"All right then let's get to our rooms." Mr. Schuester gave Jake and Ryder a steely glare as he led the rest of the New Directions up the stairs to their room.

"What were you two thinking?" Blaine looked over to Jake and Ryder.

"Thought you could get away with trying to score some drinks with your looks?" Kitty guessed.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Ryder asked.

"Because Puck did the same thing when we were juniors." Artie added as he headed with the rest of the group. Marley nudged Jake, giving him an annoyed look as he shrugged his shoulders.

"We're in New York, baby." Jake put his arm around Marley's shoulder as they walked together to the stairs. "Anything could happen."

* * *

"All right, all right. I need your opinion on these outfits." Kurt summoned Santana and Rachel to the living room as the two girls stared over at Kurt.

"Why are we here and Finn isn't?" Santana brought up before Kurt unveiled the outfits.

"Because if Finn was here, he'd be bored." Kurt reasoned. Santana nodded her head, understanding as Kurt unveiled the outfits. The dresses were red dresses with a black sash and sequins on the top part. Rachel and Santana eyed the dresses for a moment, then turned to Kurt in confusion.

"Kurt…this is just like our Nationals dresses…just with sequins all over the place." Rachel eyed the fabric, staring at Kurt.

"All right. I didn't have much inspiration." Kurt sighed. Santana noticed that there were some other dresses that were hidden in bags.

"What are those dresses?" Santana wondered, walking over to the dress bag and unzipping it.

"Santana!" Kurt's eyes widened. Santana opened the dress then her eyes widened. Rachel walked over to Santana as they studied the dress. The dress was a hot pink with a black heart belt in the middle. The under layer of the dress had red and white flowing through it. Rachel and Santana started twirling around with the dress as Kurt eyed them. That was when he realized Rachel and Santana loved the dresses. Finn entered the living room the kitchen, holding a can of soda as he saw Rachel and Santana twirling around with the dresses. Finn looked to Kurt as Kurt shrugged his shoulders.

"What are they doing?" Finn asked, almost amused.

"I think they like the dress I designed for Nationals." Kurt suggested. Rachel and Santana stopped twirling with the dresses, walking over to Kurt with excitement.

"Kurt these are incredible." Rachel complimented.

"Did you make matching black headbands and shoes?" Santana asked.

"I would have wore this." Rachel sounded excited.

"I'm not big for pink but these are so adorable!" Santana added as the two girls continued to marvel at the dress.

"All right, I'm leaving the room now." Finn headed back to the kitchen, still chuckling at the fact that a simple dress was able to marvel Rachel Berry.

"Well, I'm glad you like the dresses…because I made you two your own even though you're not performing." Kurt held up the dresses for Rachel and Santana as the girls squealed. Rachel and Santana took the dresses, hugging Kurt in the process.

"We love you Kurt!" Rachel headed towards the bathroom with Santana in tow.

"You're welcome!" Kurt called out after them, looking to Finn who came back out of the kitchen—this time with a sandwich. "So you avoid talking about dresses by eating?"

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." Finn shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich as Kurt chuckled.

"Yep…you really are a man." Kurt went back to the dress design, adding black ribbon to the bottom of the dresses as a finishing touch.

* * *

"Come on, we have to do something here!" Marley groaned, sitting on the stage with Jake next to her. "It's not every day that we're in New York, the greatest city in the world."

"The only way that we are doing anything fun is if we sneak out the door over there." Joe pointed to the door as the others sighed.

"That's it…" Marley got up from the stage and started heading towards the door.

"Wait, Marley…where are you going?" Tina asked.

"I'm going to explore New York. Are any of you coming with me?" Marley asked. The others became skeptical as Marley sighed. "Come on, this is the last time we're all going to do something together. Let's be spontaneous!"

"Since when are you spontaneous, Mary-Sue?" Kitty asked. Marley walked over to the others as she became excited. "We should go out there and explore the city." The others weren't sure whether it was a good idea—until Blaine stood up from his seat.

"We've been practicing for a long time. We deserve a little bit of time off." Blaine concluded.

"I agree…," a voice said from behind Marley. Marley turned around as she noticed it was Mercedes and Quinn standing there with a grin.

"You do?" Marley asked.

"I do…" Mercedes smiled. "Which is why I came to tell you that you girls are going to be going to Rachel's loft tonight to have a slumber party with Rachel, Kurt and Santana." The girls turned to one another with excitement, looking back at Mercedes. This wasn't a dream. They were going to Rachel's loft to have a slumber party with Rachel Berry.

"Will you be there too?" Kitty asked.

"But of course we will." Quinn answered.

'Wait, if the girls get to go to a slumber party then what are us guys going to do?" Jake wondered.

"You guys get to hang out with Finn tonight. Finn thought that Rachel needed something like this to feel closer to her friends." Quinn said.

"So it's basically splitting us up by gender?" Artie wondered.

"I'm sold." Tina quickly said, preventing Artie from complaining. "Us girls need to bond in order to work together on the stage."

"Oh please…you think that bonding is going help your tagalong team?" A voice came from behind Mercedes. The girls turned to spot Frida with The Hoosierdaddies walking in the auditorium. "Please, all of the talented vocalists that didn't sleep around are gone from your team." Brittany furrowed her eyebrows at Frida, realizing that she was talking about Rachel, without saying Rachel's name.

"Why do you keep making fun of Rachel?" Brittany got up from her chair, walking over to Frida.

"It's not my fault that she was sleeping around." Frida shrugged her shoulders, not seeing why Brittany was getting defensive.

"Rachel doesn't sleep around." Quinn gave Frida a steely glare. "If there was one person Rachel slept with, it was Finn. Other than that, that's pretty much it."

"Oh well, I guess that you don't know Rachel as well as you think you do…" Frida and some of The Hoosierdaddies laughed.

"I think I do…" Quinn smirked. "Now how about you get out of here and you can prove yourself during Nationals. Right now, you're not wanted." The girls quickly followed Quinn and Mercedes out of the room while the boys stared over at Quinn and Frida.

"Okay…Quinn doing that was kind of hot…" Ryder mumbled as Blaine smacked Ryder in the back of the head.

"Don't let my brother hear you say that…" Jake warned as Ryder rubbed the back of his head.

* * *

That night, the girls headed to the Bushwick apartment in their pajamas, giving one another grins. They were excited to step into the home of Rachel and Santana's…they had never actually seen it before. Mercedes knocked on the door and soon right after, Rachel, Santana and Kurt opened the door with a grin.

"Welcome to the Rachel Hudson, Santana Lopez and Kurt Hummel sleepover extravaganza!" Rachel greeted the girls as they let out a grin. They entered the apartment but when Santana looked at Brittany's face, she knew that Brittany was more distracted than usual. Santana walked over to Brittany, putting a hand on Brittany's shoulder.

"Brittany? Are you okay?" Santana soothingly asked.

"Frida showed up at our Glee practice." Brittany whispered. "She was talking nonsense about Rachel." Santana looked at Rachel then back at Brittany, giving her girlfriend a soft glance.

"It's okay, Brittany. Frida can't hurt Rachel here…okay?" Santana soothed her. Brittany pulled Santana in for a hug as Santana hugged her back.

"So, who's ready to get this party started?!" Kurt yelled with a smile.

"Oh! I think this calls for a song!" Mercedes looked over to Kurt who rolled his eyes playfully.

"But we always sing…" Kurt joked slightly.

"Kurt, Mercedes is right." Rachel smiled. Santana gave Brittany an assuring smile then looked back towards Rachel. "We should sing…and I think I know which song Mercedes is talking about."

"Oh…I think you know." Rachel smiled.

"All right! Let's get this party started!" Tina yelled in excitement. Rachel played the song as the girls and Kurt started dancing around the living room with glee.

[Girls and Kurt]  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started

[Mercedes]  
Get this party started on a Saturday night  
Everybody's waiting for me to arrive  
Sending out the message to all of my friends  
We'll be looking flashy in my Mercedes Benz

[Brittany]  
I got lots of style, check my gold diamond rings  
I can go for miles if you know what I mean

[Girls and Kurt]  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started (Rachel: I'm coming out, I'm coming)  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started

[Marley and Tina]  
Pumping up the volume, breaking down to the beat  
Cruising through the west side, we'll be checking a scene

[Santana and Kitty]  
Boulevard is freaking as I'm coming up fast  
I'll be burning rubber, you'll be kissing my ass

[Rachel and Kurt]  
Pull up to the bumper, get out of the car  
License plate says Stunner #1 Superstar

[Girls and Kurt]  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started (Quinn: I'm coming out, I'm coming)  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started

[Rachel]  
Get this party started

[Brittany and Quinn]  
Making my connection as I enter the room  
Everybody's chilling as I set up the groove

[Rachel and Marley]  
Pumping up the volume to this brand new beat  
Everybody's dancing and they're dancing for me

[Mercedes, Tina and Kitty]  
I'm your operator, you can call anytime  
I'll be your connection to your party line!

[Girls and Kurt]  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started (Tina: I'm coming out, I'm coming)  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started (Kitty: I'm coming out, I'm coming)  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started (Brittany: I'm coming out, you better)  
I'm coming out so you better get this party started

[Rachel]  
Get this party started!  
Get this party started right now!

[Santana]  
Get this party started!  
Get this party started!

[Girls and Kurt]  
Get this party started right now!

The girls and Kurt burst out laughing after the song as Rachel let out a grin. She nodded her head, giving the girls a happy expression. _Finn was right, _Rachel thought to herself. _This was just what the doctor ordered_.

* * *

The boys weren't having as much fun as the girls as they had spent the entire evening, trying to find something to do They passed by every store along Times Square, and there was nothing that caught their attention. Finn looked over to Puck and Mike then down to Artie, who he was wheeling down the streets. Maybe there really wasn't anything for them to do there.

"We have to find something. We can't go home yet." Finn was adamant about staying outside so that Rachel could have some downtime with the girls.

"But dude, we passed by every store and there's nothing that we could do here." Puck tried to reason with his friend. "Maybe we should take the guys back to the hotel and then figure out what we're gonna do from there. We could try to sneak another beer from the lounge or something."

"Dude, we're not giving minors' alcohol." Finn sternly looked at his best friend. Finn's face then softened as he looked around at the stores, wondering if there was something that they could do for fun. Artie looked to one of the stores, then got an idea…

"Hey Finn?" Artie looked up at Finn as Finn looked back down at Artie.

"Yeah?" Finn asked.

"Can we go thrift shopping?" Artie pointed to one of the thrift stores as the guys started smiling at one another…they had a great idea…and they were gonna do it—Macklemore style.

[Artie]  
What, what, what, what,  
What, what, what, what  
What, what, what, what  
What, what, what, what  
[Ryder]  
Badada, Badada, Badada, da  
Badada, Badada, Badada, da  
Badada, Badada, Badada, da  
Badada, Badada, Badada, da

[Jake and Artie]  
I'm gonna pop some tags  
Only got $20 in my pocket  
I'm, I'm hunting, looking for a come up  
This is, this is awesome

[Blaine]  
Walk up to the club, I'm like what up  
I got a big rock  
I'm so pumped up about some clothes at the thrift shop  
Ice on the fringe, it's so damn frosty  
That people like, 'hey, the guy on the marquee'

[Puck]  
Rolling in, hella deep, heading down to the mezzanine  
Dressed in all pink, except my gator shoes, those are green  
Draped in a leopard mink, girls standing next to me  
Probably should have washed this, smells like R Kelly's sheets (Ryder: PISS!)  
But hey, it was 99 cents!

[Finn]  
Copping it, washing it, about to go get some compliments  
Passing up on those moccasins, someone else's been walking in  
But me and my it man  
I'm stunting and I'm flossing man  
Saving all my money and I'm hella glad that's a bargain  
I'ma take your grandpa's style  
I'ma take your grandpa's style  
No for real—ask your grandpa—can I have his hand me downs?  
Velour jumpsuit and some house slippers  
Dookie brown jacket that I found digging

[Artie]  
They had a broken keyboard, I bought a broken keyboard  
I bought a skeet blanket and then I bought a knee board  
Hello, Hello, my ace man, my Mello  
John Wayne ain't got nothing on the fringe game, hell no  
I could make some Pro Wings, make them cool, sell those  
The sneaker heads would be like "oh man, he got the Velcros"

[Jake and Artie]  
I'm gonna pop some tags  
Only got $20 in my pocket  
I'm, I'm hunting looking for a come up  
This is, this is awesome  
I'm gonna pop some tags  
Only got $20 in my pocket  
I'm, I'm hunting looking for a come up  
This is, this is awesome

[Ryder and Blaine]  
I wear your granddads clothes  
I look incredible  
I'm in this big huge coat  
From that thrift shop down the road

[Puck and Finn]  
I wear your granddads clothes  
I look incredible  
I'm in this big huge coat  
From that thrift shop down the road

[Jake and Artie]  
I'm gonna pop some tags  
Only got $20 in my pocket  
I'm, I'm hunting looking for a come up  
This is, this is awesome

The boys continued to laugh as they were leaving the thrift shop, and Finn felt a sense of easiness. This has been one of the best nights of his life—letting Rachel get the slumber party she dreamed of to keep her mind off of things and him going out with the guys to enjoy a night on the town. Finn continued to walk with the guys, but something felt wrong as they passed by an alley. Something felt extremely wrong.

"Maybe should turn back." Artie spoke what was on everyone's mind. "I feel like something's wrong here."

"So do I…" Finn agreed, looking out into the distance. The boys turned around behind them, seeing someone being chased by someone—it looked as if it was a robber with cops chasing after him. Finn noticed a girl running after the cops, looking as if she was crying. Finn let go of Artie's wheelchair, gripping the woman on the shoulder as she shook her head. "Hey, hey…what's wrong? What is it?" The girl eyed Finn, emitting a shaky breath.

"That guy is heading towards his car! He kidnapped my child! Please help me!" The woman almost broke down. Finn handed the woman over to Puck and decided to ensue in the chase.

"Finn! FINN!" Puck yelled after his friend, but Finn ignored Puck's screams surpassing the cops and going after the man who stole the young mother's child.

"What is he doing?!" Jake exclaimed.

"I don't know, but what he's doing is dangerous!" Mike added. Puck couldn't help but feel worried about his friend. Seeing Finn attempting to help the woman next to him left Puck fearing the worst for Finn's safety. The boys watched in horror as the man pulled out a gun, trying to aim for the police, noticing that Finn was hot on his tail.

_BAM_!

The sound of the gun went off while the New Directions boys watched in fear…

The bullet didn't hit the police…

* * *

Back at the girl's slumber party, Rachel and the others danced around to the music, expecting Finn and the other boys to come back soon. When Rachel looked down at her phone and noticed that Finn hadn't called her all night, she began to feel worried.

"Finn's probably just having a good time with the guys." Santana assured her, putting a hand on Rachel's shoulder. Rachel turned back to her friend, emitting a small smile.

"Yeah, you're right. I bet Finn's just having a great time with the guys." Rachel chuckled slightly. Just then, there was a knock at the door. The girls figured Finn had house keys and since Santana, Kurt and Rachel were here, they wondered who could it have been. Rachel opened the door to find two police officers with solemn faces, holding what looked like was a wedding ring. The girls lowered the music, staring over at the door. The police looked to Rachel, seeing that she was confused.

"Excuse me ma'am…are you Rachel Hudson?" The first officer asked. Rachel quickly nodded her head.

"I'm sorry officers, were we too loud with the music?" Rachel quickly apologized.

"No, no…that's not it dear." The second officer assured her.

"I'm afraid that we have some bad news…" The first officer looked to Rachel, putting a slight hand on her shoulder.

"What…what bad news? Is everything okay?" Rachel quickly began to worry. The officer looked down at the wedding ring in his hand, giving it to Rachel sadly. "What…what's this?" Rachel looked inside the ring, reading the inscription—realizing that it was Finn's wedding ring. Rachel felt a pit in her stomach as the officer spoke the words that no wife wants to hear.

"Rachel…your husband Finn Hudson was shot trying to save a woman's child. He was taken to the hospital and—he died of his injuries. I'm very sorry for your loss."

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Get This Party Started by P!nk (Sung by Mercedes Jones, Brittany Pierce, Marley Rose, Tina Cohen Chang, Santana Lopez, Kitty Wilde, Rachel Berry, Kurt Hummel and Quinn Fabray with New Directions Girls), Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Sung by Artie Abram, Ryder Lynn, Jake Puckerman, Blaine Anderson, Noah "Puck" Puckerman and Finn Hudson with New Directions Boys)_

* * *

**_RIP Cory Monteith_**

**_"He Took the Midnight Train Going Anywhere"_**

**_1982-2013_**


	56. New Directions and Rachel: Not The End

_**GLEE: NOT THE END**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did.**_

_****_**Note: There's no 'Previously on Glee' in this chapter because obviously, this chapter is supposed to be extremely serious. It's more of a reminisce chapter about Finn (and Rachel will reveal some news in this chapter that we didn't see coming before). So here we are, the special second part to the end of the previous chapter, "Glee: Not The End"**

* * *

Rachel spent the rest of the night after getting the news about Finn locked up in the bathroom, crying her eyes out. She couldn't believe it. Earlier that day, Finn was there! He was making a sandwich in the kitchen, drinking a can of soda, joking around with Kurt about how much Santana and her loved the new dresses he made for Nationals. They were planning to have a real wedding with all of these dreams, and it was cruelly taken away from her because one person decided to be ignorant. She flashed back to the conversation that she had with the police officer, just shortly after learning that Finn had died.

* * *

"_What?" Rachel was in disbelief. Did she hear the cop speak correctly? Finn couldn't have been dead. She spoke with Finn before he left to hang out with the guys._

"_I'm afraid it's so, Mrs. Hudson. I am so sorry." The first police officer said. It took Rachel a moment to sink it in, and then that was when the waterworks came. Rachel got down on her knees, burying her hands into her face, sobbing uncontrollably for her husband. The other glee girls walked over to her with tears in their eyes, sitting down next to her and holding Rachel tightly. _

"_Once again, we are very sorry." The second officer added. "If it makes you feel any better, your husband died a hero." _

"_I don't think that's going to help the fact that Finn's not here." Kitty roughly told the cops._

"_Well…we'll…just…go." The police officers made their way out the door, the girls watching the door close. _

"_Do you think that the boys know about Finn?" Quinn asked, her voice barely above a whisper as tears streamed down her face. _

"_I don't know." Kurt answered, his face red from the crying he had just done. "Um…call Puck and ask. In the meantime, someone's going to have to break the news to Mr. Schue and my parents." _

"_I think that you should tell your parents, Kurt." Mercedes tearfully added. "Rachel's in no position to even talk to anyone right now." As Kurt went to the phone to deliver the terrible news, Rachel sat there, still in her tears, unbelieving that the love of her life—was gone._

* * *

Rachel continued to sit in the bathroom, staring down at the floor, unsure whether or not she was ready to come out and face her friends. Rachel continuously kept hearing the door open and close to the loft, hearing the guys joining the girls. Rachel looked in the mirror, her face blotchy from the crying, her hair an unkempt mess. She was supposed to be enjoying herself at the slumber party. Instead, she found out that she would never see Finn again, and that her fairy tale ending was punctured by a bullet. Rachel walked out of the bathroom slowly, seeing all of New Directions, past and present, sitting in the middle of the room. Rachel looked over to the corner of the loft where Finn's drum set was, remembering the countless times in the past that she would need her beauty sleep, and that he needed to stop playing the drums and go to bed. In fact, right before they left for Lima to help with prom.

* * *

_Rachel was finding it hard to get her beauty sleep that night as she peered over to the other side of the bed. Finn wasn't on his side and instead was in a place that he shouldn't have been at 2 in the morning—in the living room, playing his drums. Rachel had figured that if she had let Finn be that he would have come to bed himself. But after two hours where Finn didn't come to bed, Rachel felt that this time would have been the moment to get up and go get her husband. Rachel put on her robe, trudging over to the living room where Finn had a notepad out. He was trying to write down a set of rhythmic beats on the drums. Rachel rolled her eyes towards Finn, seeing that he wasn't even paying attention to her. _

"_Finn Hudson! Do you know what time it is?" Rachel exclaimed. Finn looked up from the notepad, twirling the other drumstick in his hand, giving Rachel an innocent glance._

"_I don't know, what time is it?" Finn asked. _

"_It's 2 in the morning, Finn. There are people trying to get their beauty sleep and I'm surprised a neighbor hasn't called the cops yet due to this noise!" Finn put the notepad down, getting up from the chair. _

"_Sorry, I didn't mean to annoy you." Finn chuckled. "I was just working on the drums for Marley's song for Nationals. She asked me to work on that." Rachel then remembered that Marley and Finn were working on a song. _

"_And let me guess, you think better at night?" Rachel couldn't help but crack a small smile towards him, badly trying to show him that she was upset with his noise._

"_Yep, but if it bothers you then I could stop and work on it when I get to Lima." Finn started to put the notepad away, but Rachel grabbed his hand while giving him a lustful look, She pressed her lips to his, intertwining their fingers. "So I guess you like the idea then?" Finn replied after a moment._

"_Yes, yes I do." Rachel continued to press kisses on Finn's lips, noticing that he was losing his train of thought. Finn picked up Rachel bridal style, causing her to emit a squeal as the both of them headed to their bedroom. _

* * *

She then peered over to the dishes that were in the sink, the same dish that Finn was eating from earlier that day still in there, unwashed along with his cup. She remembered after him eating, she asked him to wash his cup multiple times but he had refused, acting like a five-year-old child that didn't get what they wanted in a candy store.

* * *

"_But Rachel, I don't want to wash the dishes!" Finn whined, seeing that Rachel was sitting at the table, writing on a money order to pay the rent._

"_Finn, I asked you to wash the dishes." Rachel replied, not looking up at him. "I didn't ask you to perform brain surgery." _

"_Would brain surgery be easier?" Finn slightly joked._

"_Finnegan Hudson, wash the dishes now." Rachel almost sounded like his mother. Finn crossed his arms playfully, raising an eyebrow with a grin._

"_Oh really. And what if I don't?" Finn asked. Rachel gave Finn a serious look, then crossed her legs._

"_Then you're sleeping on the couch on the week and we won't have sex for a month." Rachel spoke in a stern tone. Finn realized that Rachel wasn't joking, the smug expression disappearing from his face. He walked over to sit down next to her, grabbing her hand with a smile. _

"_Rachel, I promise I will do the dishes as soon as I get home tonight." Finn vowed. "I just promised the guys that I would pick them up early so that you can have the house to yourself while you wait for the girls. Does that sound fair?" Rachel contemplated Finn's reasoning, finally pressing a kiss to his lips with a grin._

"_All right. That sounds fair." Rachel beamed towards Finn. Finn put a hand through Rachel's hair, then got up to go get ready for his night out with the boys. Little did Rachel know, that was the last time she was going to see Finn alive._

* * *

Rachel stood there, almost as if she was in a daze—she was praying that this was a nightmare. She wanted more than anything for Finn to come back to her. She wanted Finn to be there, hugging her, kissing her, telling her how beautiful she was, making her feel loved. She was inconsolable and every fragment in her body was burning for Finn—unfortunately, things would never be the same. She would never see Finn again. She'll never kiss his lips, give him a huge hug, give him all her love, she'll never smell his scent, she'll never get a chance to tell him to pick his clothes up off the floor after he tore them all around the room, looking for his new shirt that he recently bought to celebrate summer and his _Les Mis_ directorial debut. Rachel realized that Finn's dreams of being a teacher were gone. He would no longer attend classes at NYADA. He would never be belittled by Cassandra July and now he would never get a chance to shove in Brody's face that he was the one Rachel had chosen forever and always. He would never come in the house again—his smile illuminating the room. There would be no more 'Finchel'. Now they were two separate pieces that would never find each other again. Rachel was stuck on Earth. Finn was in heaven. All those thoughts choked Rachel up as she started sobbing, Quinn and Santana getting up from their positions and getting Rachel, leading her to the circle and sitting her down, comforting and consoling her. Rachel wiped her tears after a couple of moments of crying, staring at the support of friends she had.

"Finn's gone…" Rachel simply muttered. "I kept thinking that I was going to wake up from a terrible nightmare—thinking that when I woke up, he'd be sitting by the edge of the bed. Telling me that he missed me, how was my night, if I had fun, if I had a good time with the girls. Why did he have to go? It's not fair! WHY DID HE HAVE TO GO?!" Rachel screamed, the others simply looking at her with saddened expressions.

"I don't know Rachel…" Santana said, wiping a few of her tears. "But even though Finn's gone…he died a hero. He attempted to save that woman's child."

"He did…" Puck softly said, looking down at his fingers. "He was shot in his arm the first time but he kept running…he eventually tackled the guy, saw the kid in the car and called over the police. The police got to him but—the attacker shot Finn again. He was rushed to the hospital and his condition got worse from there…I'm never going to forget his last words when he looked at me on that gurney."

"What did he tell you?" Kitty wiped a few of her tears, staring at the older Puckerman.

"His last words were…'take care of Rachel for me.' He then closed his eyes and they shoved me aside to put him in the ambulance…" Puck felt the tears flow down his face, letting out jagged sighs as he tried to continue speaking. "I got to the hospital but they said that the shooter hit an artery and that Finn wasn't going to make it. I felt so scared, losing my best friend. Sure, we'd fight and I'd try to steal his girls and stuff but at the end of the day he was my bro. I loved him…I did." Puck used his sweatshirt as a napkin, taking the tears off his face, but it was no use as he started to cry more.

"Oh Noah…" Quinn hugged Puck tightly as they cried together. Rachel continued to sit there, almost in a daze.

"I can't believe he's gone." Rachel said. She looked over to Marley, seeing that Marley was crying into Jake's arms. Finn had played a huge part in Marley's songwriting for Nationals. He was almost like a father figure to her, and to see him snatched away like that was cruel and unfair. Rachel wanted to go over and hug Marley as tightly as she could. Rachel sniffled, the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Marley, get over here." Marley looked at Rachel, crawling across the room until she reached Rachel's arms, sobbing uncontrollably when she reached them. Rachel and Marley cried together while the other Glee members couldn't help but sob along with them.

"We can't do this…" Tina mumbled after a moment.

"What can't we do?" Quinn looked to Tina as Tina started back at Quinn with puffy eyes.

"We can't go on that stage for Nationals and perform, knowing that Finn isn't there." Tina spoke softly but sternly. "Finn was the heart and soul of New Directions. We can't go up there without breaking down."

"You guys are going up there." Rachel sniffed as Puck handed her a tissue. Rachel turned to Puck, nodding her head as a thank you before looking back to the girls. "You need to go up there. Finn wouldn't have wanted you to mope around and not attempt to try to win Nationals." Rachel ran a hand through her hair, seeing the girls agreeing with her.

"It's gonna be hard." Quinn said to them. "We're all going to be crying when we see you on stage and Finn isn't there. He's the heart and soul of New Directions. He really is…and we're gonna miss him terribly."

"But it's crazy…he was here this morning and now he's…" Mike struggled to say the word that had everyone slightly on edge. "D…dead."

"Well, I called mom and dad about it…they're devastated." Kurt wiped a few crocodile tears as Blaine rubbed Kurt's back soothingly.

"Are they coming into New York?" Santana asked Kurt.

"They said that they were. They'll be here tomorrow." Kurt answered.

"Frankenteen was just that…Frankenteen." Santana's voice cracked thinking about the nickname she had given Finn when they were in High School. "You know, I made fun of Finn countless times over the years but you all know that I was only doing it in good nature. I guess that was my way of just being close to him."

"We all were close to Finn, Santana." Kurt said softly.

"Right, you mean like how you had that crush on Finn when we were sophomores?" Mike brought up. Some of the New Directions members slightly laughed at the memory—even Kurt.

"Yeah, I can't believe that I actually thought that something was going to happen between Finn and I." Kurt shook his head, slightly in disbelief. "I was wrong."

"It turned out he was only into girls." Quinn chuckled slightly.

"Remember the time how in order to get comfortable into his own skin for _Rocky Horor_, Finn walked down the hallways in the nude—except he had underwear on of course." Santana recalled the memory.

"I remember that." Rachel nodded, her face forming into a sad smile. "We never got to do the play so it never happened during a performance."

"Remember during Lady Gaga week when he dressed up in an inspired Lady Gaga outfit and tried to tell off Karofsky and Azimo?" Mercedes recollected.

"Was I the only one that thought that the outfit didn't look good on Finn? I mean seriously?" Kurt's comment elicited a couple of chuckles.

"I remember I tried to recruit him for my pool cleaning business." Puck said. "He was so hung up about coming to New York with Rachel that he blew off my offer. I'm not mad though—I was at the time."

"Well, for one of our first dates, Finn took me bowling although it was a ploy just to try to get me back into the Glee Club after I had quit." Rachel fondly remembered the memory. "I'll never forget that."

"I also remember how terrible of a dancer Finn was." Santana spoke up. "Let me tell you, he was so bad he broke Rachel's nose."

"What?" Jake and Ryder looked to Rachel, seeing that Rachel was slightly embarrassed by the thought.

"Yes, Finn broke my nose but I forgave him for that." Rachel pointed a finger at Santana, causing the rest of the New Directions to let out some laughs.

"Finn was such a good friend." Brittany spoke. The other New Directions turned to her, seeing if she was going to say something that was out there. "Even though Finn called me stupid once and made me realize that Rory wasn't a leprechaun that came out my Lucky Charms cereal box, Finn was a fantastic friend. He was the soul of Glee Club. When he wasn't there, everything would fall apart. He would have been a fantastic teacher had he graduated from NYADA." Rachel felt some tears fall from her face, wiping them slightly.

"Yeah, he would have been a phenomenal teacher." Rachel's voice began to crack. "Finn was just so amazing in every single way. Did he have his faults? Yes. But he was just that person that made you believe that being a part of something special makes you special. I never felt so strongly about someone before and to see him gone just like that…it's sad. I loved him…I'll always love him."

"We know you did Rachel…" Quinn and Mercedes sandwiched in between Rachel, giving her a hug. "We all loved Finn. He was a one of a kind visionary."

"He was special….and we're never going to forget about him for as long as we live, right?" Mercedes slightly shoved Rachel in hopes of getting a response from her.

"Yeah, I guess…" Rachel said.

"I was just wondering, did anyone tell Mr. Schue what happened to Finn?" Kitty wondered.

"He does have the right to know so he can say goodbye to his student property." Marley added.

"We told him we were doing a candle vigil in Central Park in about an hour…we might as well go and pay our respects to Finn at midnight." Mercedes said. The glee kids got up from their seats, heading towards the front door of the loft, but they noticed that Rachel was still sitting on the floor, unable to get up. Quinn looked to Puck, then pulled him a bit closer to her.

"Go and talk to her." Quinn instructed.

"All right…" Puck headed over to Rachel as Quinn left the room. Puck stood there for a moment, seeing that Rachel was in complete shock. She never had to go through something like this before, and it was one of the most heartbreaking things to happen in her entire life. Just like that, her world was gone. Finn had vanished into thin air and as hard as she tried to wish for him back, he wasn't going to come back. Puck sat down next to Rachel, looking her in the eye as she turned to face the Puckerman. "Hey, are you all right?" Puck softly asked.

"This has to be the worst year of my life." Rachel murmured after a moment. "There was the Hunter nonsense, the Brody nonsense, the Frida nonsense, my dads not approving my marriage. But through thick and thin, Finn was there. He never left my side for a moment…he was always standing by me, never letting me forget how beautiful or sexy or smart I was. And…I'm the most upset because I had this wonderful news that I wanted to share with him and now I can't."

"Well, if you want to share with me you can." Puck solemnly said. Rachel considered, then nodded her head slowly.

"I took a test this morning and…I'm pregnant, Puck." Rachel looked to the Puckerman. "The baby's Finn's…and I was going to tell him after Nationals was over, right before our wedding—but now I can't even do that. I mean, I could talk to his dead body but he won't respond back. He won't tell me that it's wonderful and that he's going to be a father."

"Wait, you're pregnant with Finn's baby?" Puck asked.

"Yes, have you not been listening?" Rachel snapped. She then quickly became apologetic, releasing a sigh. "I'm sorry Noah…it's just I've been through so much and losing Finn was the poisonous icing on the proverbial cake." Puck put an arm around Rachel as she leaned on his shoulder, as she softly wept.

"I know it's hard Rachel…I know. Finn was my best friend in the whole world. I had a plan that we'd be best buds until we were 90…but knowing that it's not going to happen has me thinking that I'm in some terrible nightmare, that I want to wake up. Whatever happens with the baby, just know that we're all here for you and him. There's nowhere that the Glee Club would rather be, than with you." Rachel felt herself grinning from ear to ear, staring at Puck who simply just thought of the sweetest thing to say in the entire world.

"Thank you Puck." Rachel said.

"You're welcome. And in this time we're going to need each other. I'll need you and you need me. Do you think we can do that?" Puck questioned. Rachel nodded her head, pulling Puck in for a hug. Puck and Rachel finally parted from their hug as Puck got up from the floor, pulling Rachel alongside him. "Come on, let's go meet the others at the vigil. I'm sure Finn would have wanted you there." Rachel agreed, walking along with Puck out the door and heading to Central Park to say one of their last few goodbyes to Finn.

* * *

When the Glee Club went to the park, they noticed Santana already lighting candles, standing in front of them as the pianist started playing. Santana remembered the song that she was going to sing was one of Finn's favorites from Adele. Last week he had actually stopped her from listening to the radio to question what song it was. Santana felt that this song would have been the perfect opportunity to show Finn just how much the Glee Club cared about him, and how he wasn't going to leave their hearts for anything.

[Santana]  
When the rain is blowing in your face  
And the whole word is on your case  
I could offer you a warm embrace  
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the stars appear  
And there is no one there to dry your tears  
I could hold you for a million years  
To make you feel my worlds

I know you haven't made your mind up yet  
But I would never do you wrong

[Santana with Rachel and Brittany]  
I've known it from the moment that we met  
No doubt in my mind where you belong

[Santana]  
I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue  
I'd go crawling down the avenue  
No there's nothing that I wouldn't do  
To make you feel my love

[Santana with Rachel and Brittany]  
The storms are raging on the rolling sea  
And on the highway of regret  
Though winds of change are throwing wild and free  
You ain't seen nothing like me yet

[Santana]  
I could make you happy, make your dreams come true  
Nothing that I wouldn't do  
Go to the ends of the Earth for you  
To make you feel my love

After a moment, Rachel looked to her friends, obvious that tears were streaming down her face. Rachel glanced at Puck who slowly nodded his head to her. Rachel had some news that she had to get off her chest to her friends.

"Finn always told me how he wanted to be a father." Rachel muttered. Her friends turned to her, Rachel looking out towards the lake. "He was so good with kids. He was able to figure out what was best for kids. He was great when it came to leading the Glee Club and I just knew in my heart he'd be a great teacher because of the kids that were in that room, wanting to gain knowledge from him."

"Finn would have been a great dad, Rachel." Santana softly said, silence occurring after a moment. Rachel placed a hand on her small stomach, which lead to the others eyes widening.

"Wait…you're…" Santana pointed to Rachel as she let out a small sad smile.

"Yeah…and it's Finn's. He won't see the baby…even though I wanted to tell him." Rachel sighed as Puck put an arm around Rachel's shoulders.

"I had a feeling something like that was going to happen when I noticed you and Finn wouldn't stop making love to each other." Santana said, although she had a small smile on her face as she said it. "So that means that Finn's never really gone. He's still going to be in that child, because that's a child that you and Finn made together."

"Wait, but what about school?" Puck asked.

"Let's not worry about that right now." Rachel didn't want to think about NYADA. It wouldn't be the same without Finn. "Right now…there are more important things that we have to do right now…like get New Directions a Nationals trophy…for Finn."

"For Finn." Everyone else said in unison as Rachel smiled slightly. She was still in terrible grief that Finn was snatched away from her forever…but she still had her friends to get her through this—and she was going to get her friends through it as well.

* * *

After the candlelight vigil, Rachel, Santana and Kurt returned to their apartment while everyone else went to the hotel for the night. Rachel took one look at her bedroom and headed straight for the couch. Santana wasn't sure why Rachel didn't want to go to her room, but Kurt had an idea why.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Kurt walked over, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rachel sniffled, the tears coming back. "It's just…I don't think I can ever go back into my room. That's where Finn and I used to sleep. It would just hurt too much…"

"I know it would hurt now honey…I know." Kurt hugged Rachel tightly as they silently wept. Santana joined them, sitting down next to Rachel and rubbing her back. "But you will get through this. You are Rachel Berry…you are a star. And every shining star has a guardian angel looking out for her. And in this case, Finn is your guardian angel. Like Puck said, Finn always thought about you. Even when he was dying, his last thought was about you…how much he loved you and how much he wanted us to take care of you. Finn loved you _so_ much Rachel—and there will _never _be another person like him in this world." Kurt's speech brought him to tears, causing him to break down and sob. Rachel wrapped her arms around Kurt, holding him tightly while they all cried on the sofa. Santana wiped off the running mascara from her face, going over to the cabinets to get some extra blankets.

"Here…" Santana handed Kurt a blanket as she sat back down next to Rachel. "We're not going anywhere, Rachel. We're gonna stay here for you. No matter what." Rachel leaned her head on Santana's shoulder as Santana wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulder. Kurt leaned on Rachel's shoulder and the three friends tried to go to sleep, after an eventful day that ended in them losing the one person that they really cared about.

* * *

The next morning, Rachel awoke from her slumber, hoping that what happened was a terrible dream. She was hoping that Finn would be in the kitchen, possibly whipping up some pancakes or in the room, sleeping. Rachel slowly got out of Santana and Kurt's grasp and rushed to the kitchen, plastering a smile in case Finn _was_ there. Rachel jumped out from behind the wall—but the kitchen was empty. The dishes were still in there, the table wasn't made and there was nothing on the stove. Rachel then decided to make her way to the bedroom in hopes Finn would be sleeping. Rachel tiptoed to the door, once again plastering a smile on her face, and opened the door—but the bed was empty and unkempt after Finn refused to make the bed yesterday morning. Seeing that Finn was nowhere in the house let reality dawn upon Rachel. Finn really _was_ gone…and he wasn't coming back. Rachel slowly walked over to the edge of the bed, putting her hand on the railing as she thought about the last time her and Finn ever made love. She remembered she was frustrated about something and he was able to make her forget everything—the rest was history. Rachel sat down in the chair next to the bed as she started to cry again, staring over at the unkempt bed—then realized there was a cassette tape sitting on the table. Rachel got up from her position, walking over the tape and picking it up, observing what it said. The label had Finn's handwriting on it, and Rachel continued to stare at the words. 'Not The End'. Rachel held the tape, still looking at the title, wondering what it could have been.

"Morning sunshine." Kurt walked into the room, seeing Rachel looking at the tape. "Is everything okay?" Rachel turned back around towards Kurt, heading towards him and handing him the tape. "What's this?"

"I think it's a song or something…" Rachel mumbled. "It was Finn's…" Kurt read the label then gave Rachel a sympathetic smile.

"I know what this is…this was a song that he was recording for you. He wanted to have a recording for your wedding—and he wanted this song to be the first dance. He told me last week." Kurt said. Rachel began to look a little eager, the most eager she looked since she found out Finn died.

"Do you think that he finished it?" Rachel wondered.

"Did you want to hear it?" Kurt asked. "I think he finished it since it's on the cassette player. Hold on, I think I have a boom box somewhere so we can hear this." Kurt looked through his closet in his room before coming back with a boom box. "Come on, we need some fresh air and we have to be ready for Nationals tomorrow. Let's take this and walk to the hotel with Finn's voice blaring all around New York." Rachel quickly nodded her head, a small grin appearing on her face.

"Finn deserves to have this song heard. Let's do it." Rachel said. Kurt and Rachel quickly got dressed, woke up Santana and the three of them were off to the hotel. When they closed the door, Kurt looked to Rachel, wanting to make sure she was ready to hear the last bit of Finn's voice that they'd probably hear.

"Ready?" Kurt wondered. Rachel quickly nodded her head as Kurt pressed play on the boom box. As Finn's voice began to fill the hallway, the three friends started smiling, then running down the stairs, going across New York and ending up at the hotel. When they entered the hotel room, New Directions were already hard at work, but stopped when they heard Finn's voice coming from the boom box. The New Directions members started clapping their hands and singing along to Finn's voice, and Rachel started singing along towards the end, getting one last duet in with her partner.

_[Finn]  
The sun will shine tomorrow  
So it's time for moving on  
There's not a second for sorrow  
Even though the moment's gone  
The puzzle left so many pieces  
But you can't, you can't hide  
Cause life just keeps on living  
And sooner or later you'll find_

_This is not the end, no-oh  
Your day is gonna come_

This is not the end, no-oh  
You're not the only one  
We all have our ups  
And we all have our downs  
But we have to find our way around  
This is not the end, no-oh  
No-oh, No-oh  
This is not the end

_I know it's never easy  
To pick yourself up again  
But take a deep breath cause you know that  
It's time to look ahead_

_[Finn and _Rachel]  
_Cause one foot in front of the other  
And you can, you can fly  
Into a better tomorrow  
And leave yesterday behind_

_This is not the end, no-oh  
Your day is gonna come  
This is not the end  
You're not the only one  
We all have our ups  
And we all have our downs  
But we have to find our way around  
This is not the end, no-oh  
No-oh, No-oh  
This is not the end_

_[Finn, _Rachel and New Directions]  
_Woah, oh, oh, oh, oh (Finn: Don't ever give up no)  
Woah, oh, oh, oh, oh (Finn: it's just the start now)  
Woah, oh, oh, oh, oh (Finn: Don't ever give up no)  
Woah, oh, oh, oh, oh (Finn: It's just the start now)_

_[Finn _and Rachel with New Directions_]  
This is not the end, no-oh  
Your day is gonna come  
This is not the end, no-oh  
You're not the only one  
We all have our ups  
And we all have our downs  
But we have to find our way around  
This is not the end, no-oh  
No-oh, No-oh  
This is not the end_

_[Finn, _Rachel and New Directions]  
_Woah, oh, oh, oh, oh (Finn: Don't ever give up no)  
Woah, oh, oh, oh, oh (Finn: it's just the start now)_

_[Finn, _Rachel and New Directions]  
_We all have our ups and all have our downs  
But we have to find our way around  
This is not the end, no-oh  
No-oh, No-oh  
This is not the end_

The song finally ended as New Directions started to become sad once again. That was it. That was the last new performance Finn would ever give. Rachel felt their sadness, but looked down at the tape. She picked it up, looking over to Mr. Schuester who had tears in his eyes. Rachel finally realized the meaning of the song recorded—and the joy that Finn brought even though he wasn't physically with them.

"Guys…" Rachel started to say, causing the others to turn to her. "All this grieving that we're doing…Finn wouldn't have wanted this. He wouldn't' have wanted us to be sluggish and getting into crying fits because of him. This song…this song proved Finn's importance to Glee Club—happiness and life and joy. Even though Finn's gone—we should be celebrating his life, not grieving his death. I know it's hard to believe that I'm saying that…and it's going to take time for me to cope with this—but Finn would have wanted us to get the Nationals trophy, beating Frida Romero and The Hoosierdaddies…beating the Starlight Knights. He would have wanted us to focus on the prize. We can honor Finn by winning Nationals…and we can all do it together." The New Directions noticed Rachel's point, but also noted Rachel's tears streaming as she spoke. "But…we do need to honor Finn while you're up there, so does anyone have an idea?"

"Well…Finn and I finished the song that we were supposed to be working on for Nationals…" Marley spoke softly.

"Of course…" Rachel nodded her head. "So you can sing that as the opening number. But does anyone else have any ideas?"

"I have one." Kurt raised his hand. "Remember the costumes that we wore during the Journey Regionals? I was thinking that in homage to Finn, they could wear the same thing. Life and death are a journey—and you never know when you're going to step on either path—anyone." Rachel nodded her head, turning to New Directions.

"What do you guys think?" Rachel hoped that they would be open to the idea. Tina walked over to Rachel, giving her a nod.

"Let's do this…for Finn." Tina put her hand into the circle as Rachel did as well. Soon, everyone put their hands in the circle as Rachel tearfully looked up at the sky.

"This is for you Finn…this is for _you_."

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Make You Feel My Love by Adele (Sung by Santana Lopez with Rachel Berry and Brittany Pierce), Not The End by The So Manys (Sung by *Finn Hudson with Rachel Berry and New Directions)_

_*Finn's voice was recorded on a cassette player. _


	57. NATIONALS

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. Everyone was grieving for Finn after realizing that Finn was no longer there since he tried to be a hero. Rachel had trouble putting it behind her and was struggling to have closure. New Directions have Nationals coming up and they're struggling with the fact that Finn won't be there to watch them, so they decide to honor Finn. And that's what you missed on, GLEE!**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did**

**Note: This is the final competition of the school year, 'Nationals'. Will New Directions win? Will The Hoosierdaddies take the trophy from them? Will New Directions and the alumni find a proper way to honor Finn? Let's find out on, 'GLEE: Nationals'**

* * *

The next morning, it was officially the day they all were waiting for—Nationals. It was one of the most bittersweet days of anyone's lives. For one thing, there was the fact that New Directions could find out if they had won the whole thing…but they would be looking out at the audience to see that there would be only seven graduates staring up at them instead of the initial eight. That was what scared them the most. What if they couldn't win it all? What if they let Finn down after how hard he worked with them? That was what was going through New Directions mind when they were in their dressing room before the competition began. They still had a half hour, but they wanted to spend time with one another before getting ready, thinking about what Finn would do if he were here. The one that was the most quiet—was Rachel. Rachel sat in one of the makeup chairs, staring into the mirror. Her hair looked lifeless and she looked as if she hadn't slept since hearing the dreaded news. Everyone was taking it hard—but Rachel was taking it the hardest. Mr. Schuester walked over to Rachel, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Rachel?" Mr. Schuester softly said. Rachel turned her head towards Mr. Schuester, seeing that he was giving her a small smile. "I just wanted you to know something…" Everyone turned their attention to Mr. Schuester and Rachel, seeing that the teacher was going to give a small lesson to his former student, who was currently a star. "Finn loved you _very_ much, Rachel. And it's okay if you're sad and you miss him. We all miss him—and we all miss having him around." Rachel continued to stare at Mr. Schuester, her face emotionless, then finally her bottom lip quivered and she flung into her former teachers arms, crying as he hugged her back. "It's okay…it's okay." Mr. Schuester let out a shaky sigh and released a few tears of his own. "We all loved Finn, we did…" Little did Mr. Schuester know, Frida Romero was standing outside of the dressing room, and it looked like she had been crying. She started walking away but Santana noticed her standing outside of the door.

"Excuse me." Santana said, leaving the room to follow Frida down the hall. "So that's what it's resorted to? You trying to cheat by spying on us? Well let me tell you something, 'Hoosier-bitch', we're trying to grieve here so if you would take your talentless self to your Glee Club, that would be appreciated!"

"I wasn't spying…" Frida seemed to be taken aback by Santana. Santana's face twisted from anger to confusion then saw Frida letting out a deep breath. "I heard it through the grapevine and the show choir world that Finn was dead. I didn't want to believe it so I wanted to come here and ask for myself. Let me assure you, the last thing that I would want to do is bring drama when you people all lost someone that you loved so much. I just wanted to tell Rachel that I was sorry…" Santana was about to say something but they heard footsteps coming from behind them, showing that it was Rachel standing there and using a tissue to wipe her eyes.

"You came all this way from your dressing room across the building to tell me that you're sorry?" Rachel softly asked. Frida quickly nodded her head, looking at Rachel sadly.

"I didn't realize I was putting you through so much pain—and then to just lose your husband like that must be very nerve wracking." Frida said softly. Rachel walked over to Frida as Frida let out a sigh. "I understand if you don't ever want to talk to me again, but…just know that I am sorry for all the pain I caused. And I'm very sorry about Finn." Rachel nodded her head slowly at Frida's words, then wrapped her arms around Frida, engulfing her in a hug.

"Thank you…" Rachel muttered as Frida reciprocated the hug. Rachel then let go of Frida, seeing Frida giving her a small smile.

"We're going to dedicate our performance to Finn…because he deserved that much. From what I heard he was a great person." Frida sincerely said.

"I'm sure Finn would have loved that." Rachel agreed, both of the girls giving small sad smiles. "Good luck to your Hoosierdaddies."

"And good luck to the New Directions." Frida said, turning on her heels and going back to her dressing room. Rachel turned to Santana, giving Santana another hug as Santana held her tightly.

"It's okay…" Santana assured her as Rachel looked to her friend.

"Really, Santana? 'Hoosier-bitch?'" Rachel couldn't help but chuckle while walking back to the dressing room.

"What? It was the cleverest thing that I could have come up with." Santana tried to lightly defend her actions while both girls headed back. There was still one thing they had to do—the show circle.

* * *

Rachel and Santana entered the room, seeing New Directions in their costumes, the same ones that Rachel and her friends wore when they did Journey for their regionals. Rachel couldn't help but let out a grin, seeing that they looked just like her when she was their age. Rachel walked over to Marley, engulfing the sophomore into a hug, then looked to Mr. Schue. They were ready for show circle.

"All right, so before we say anything else…we should probably dedicate this performance to Finn." Mr. Schuester looked to see his team, their eyes being clouded with tears and their face solemn. "Finn would have loved to have been here in order to see you guys kick butt. Finn loved Glee Club and he loved all of us—so we have to go out there and give this the best performance that we ever had. Now, thanks to Brittany's insistence, she'd rather scrap us doing 'Good Time' and we'd perform something more—dedicating to Finn. The theme this year is inspiration…and there's no doubt that Finn inspired us all. So let's go out there…For Finn."

"For Finn." The New Directions and alumni repeated, putting their hands in the circle. Rachel raised her hand slightly as Mr. Schuester nodded his head, giving her permission to take the floor.

"So, I was speaking with Carole and Burt when they were back at the house last night and…" Rachel let out a breath before continuing. "Finn's funeral is going to be the day that we were supposed to have the wedding ceremony. We know that you would all like to come and…say your final goodbye."

"We'll be there Rachel. We promise." Mr. Schuester said.

"Finn's body is getting shipped over to Lima tonight after Nationals, so…I'm going to go to the morgue afterwards to give my goodbyes there." Rachel felt the tears stream down her face as Puck rubbed her back soothingly.

"I'm going to go with her…" Puck added. "That way she won't be alone." Quinn smiled proudly at Puck through her tears. She then looked to Mr. Schuester, nodding his head.

"That sounds like a good idea." Mr. Schuester spoke. He then saw the lights ding as the alumni and New Directions members turned to each other. This was it. Showtime. "All right! Let's go!" Rachel looked to Marley, then down at the skirt area when she noticed there was a small black patch towards the bottom of the dress. Rachel leaned towards the patch, staring at it, then back to Marley.

"Kurt suggested that we'd get patches to honor Finn." Marley said. Rachel looked at the patch that had the initials "F.H." on it. Rachel felt touched that everyone would go and honor Finn in a way that was simply beautiful. Rachel hugged Marley once more, then the New Directions members started leaving for their seats.

"Showtime…" Marley told Rachel.

"Yeah…oh, do you have the song that you're going to sing?" Rachel asked. Marley nodded her head, putting a hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"Finn and I worked on it…and I think it sums up what we all want to be." Marley said. "It's going to bring down the house…and he helped me with most of the words and the drums. If he could sing it for you right now, I'm sure that he would." Rachel patted Marley's back as the two girls started to make their way towards the exit of the dressing room. Marley's voice turned excited as she tried to keep Rachel's mind off Finn. "Oh! I heard Ricky Martin was one of the guest judges of Nationals…"

* * *

"LIVE FROM NEW YORK, WELCOME TO THE 2013 MIDWESTERN NATIONALS COMPEITION!" The announcer boomed as the kids were seated in their seats. "BEFORE WE ANNOUNCE OUR ACTS, LET'S ANNOUNCE THE JUDGES! She's rich, she's famous because of her dad's money! Give it up for…PARIS…HILTON!" Paris stood up in her seat as everyone started cheering. Even some of the members of New Directions were in a daze.

"Wow, she's prettier in person." Mike said to Puck causing Tina to nudge him viciously. "I meant in a non…pretty…sort of way?"

"Next! She's a super star bona fide DIVA. Give it up for MARIAH…CAREY!" Mariah Carey stood up from her seat, waving towards the crowd with a smile.

"And finally, he's a Latin pop star who is _muy cailente!_ Give it up for…RICKY….MARTIN!" Ricky Martin was the last judge to get up from his seat, waving to the crowd before sitting back down.

"Doesn't Ricky Martin look like David Martinez, the Spanish teacher?" Brittany whispered to Rachel. Rachel thought that Ricky and David _did_ have a resemblance—maybe everyone _did_ have their own carbon copy in one way or another.

"And now that we've met our judges, let's get on to the first group of the competition. All the way from North Central High School in Indianapolis, it's The Hoosierdaddies!" Everyone started to scream as New Directions politely clapped. The Hoosierdaddies came out in all black show choir dresses with sequins, looking over to New Directions.

"Before we begin, we'd like to mention that there had been a loss in the show choir world recently." Frida spoke into the microphone. "New Directions lost one of their visionaries, their true talents and their heart and soul to a tragic accident. This performance is dedicated to Finn Hudson and the New Directions." Everyone started clapping as Frida went over to the stage, turning to The Hoosierdaddies and hearing their ooh's fill the auditorium as the music started to play. The New Directions stared over at Frida, letting the tears fall and emitting happy smiles, glad that the show choir world could actually band together after an unfortunate tragedy.

[Frida]  
Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh  
There's a hero  
If you look inside your heart  
You don't have to be afraid  
Of what you are  
There's an answer  
If you reach into your soul  
And the sorrow that you know  
Will melt away

And when a hero comes along  
With the strength to carry on  
And you cast your fears aside  
And you know you can't survive  
So when you feel like hope is gone  
Look inside you and be strong  
And you'll finally see the truth  
That a hero lies in you

It's a long road  
And you face the world alone  
No one reaches out a hand  
For you to hold  
You can find love  
If you search within yourself  
And that emptiness you felt  
Will disappear

[Frida with The Hoosierdaddies]  
And when a hero comes along  
With the strength to carry on  
And you cast your fears aside  
And you know you can't survive  
So when you feel like hope is gone  
Look inside you and be strong  
And you'll finally see the truth  
That a hero lies in you

[Frida]  
Lord knows  
Things are hard to follow  
But don't let anyone tear them away  
Hold on  
There will be tomorrow  
In time, you'll find a way!

[Frida with The Hoosierdaddies]  
And when a hero comes along  
With the strength to carry on  
And you cast your fears aside  
And you know you can't survive  
So when you feel like hope is gone  
Look inside you and be strong  
And you'll finally see the truth  
That a hero lies in you

[Frida]  
That a hero lies in you…

That a hero lies in…you

After the number, everyone started clapping as Frida nodded her head with a smile. The next number came on for The Hoosierdaddies…and if anyone could have guessed it—it was another ballad—this time of Celine Dion.

[Frida]  
The whispers in the morning  
The lover sleeping tight  
Are rolling by like thunder now  
As I look in your eyes

I hold on to your body  
And feel each move you make  
Your voice is warm and tender  
A love that I could not forsake

Cause I'm your lady  
And you are my man  
Whenever you reach for me  
I'll do all that I can

Lost is how I'm feeling  
Lying in your arms  
When the world outside's too much to take  
That all ends when I'm with you  
Even though there may be times  
It seems I'm far away  
Never wonder where I am  
Cause I am always by your side

Cause I'm your lady  
And you are my man  
Whenever you reach for me  
I'll do all that I can  
We're heading for something  
Somewhere I've never been  
Sometimes I am frightened but I'm ready to learn  
Of the power of love…

Frida and the Hoosierdaddies bowed after getting a standing ovation, then made their way off the stage as New Directions started heading backstage, except for Marley. The judges turned their heads towards Marley who stood in the back of the auditorium, waiting for the judge to cue her to sing. The judge sat down at the table, staring over at Marley, seeing that she was ready for her spotlight.

"And now, all the way from Lima, Ohio at the William McKinley High School…it's the NEW DIRECTIONS!" The announcer yelled, causing the auditorium to take in some screams. Marley nodded over to the drummer who was holding Finn's notepad next to the drum set. Marley crossed her heart, placed both her fingers to her lips, then pointed them at the sky, a way of saying that this performance was for Finn, and hoping that he was watching wherever he was. The drums started to play, and Marley started to make her way towards the stage as she started singing the song that she and Finn wrote, feeling tears stream down her face as she made it to the front of the auditorium towards the end of the song. Rachel sat in the seats, listening carefully at the words Finn penned. The song truly was inspirational and all of the alumni could agree—that even though they were nobodies when they first started Glee club, they were now—somebodies.

[Marley]  
Can you see me  
Cause I'm right here  
Can you listen  
Cause I've been trying to make you notice  
What it would mean to me  
To feel like somebody  
We've been on our way to nowhere  
Trying so hard to get there and I say

Oh!  
We're gonna let it show  
We're gonna just let go of everything  
Holding back our dreams and try  
To make it come alive  
Come on let it shine so they can see  
We were meant to be  
Somebody  
Somebody, yeah  
Somehow, Someday  
Someway, Somebody

I'm so tired  
Of being invisible  
But I feel it, yea  
Like a fire below the surface  
Trying to set me free  
Burning inside of me  
Cause we're standing on the edge now  
It's a long way down but I say

[Marley with New Directions]  
Oh!  
We're gonna let it show (Marley: Let it show!)  
We're gonna just let go of everything  
Holding back our dreams and try  
To make it come alive  
Come on let it shine so they can see  
We were meant to be  
Somebody  
Somebody, yeah  
Somehow, Someday  
Someway, Somebody

[Marley]  
We will walk out of this darkness  
Feel the spotlight glowing like a yellow sun  
Oh, woah, oh  
And then we fall, we fall together  
Till we get back up we will rise as one  
Oh, woah

[Marley and Brittany with New Directions]  
Oh!  
We're gonna let it show (Marley: Let it show)  
We're gonna just let go of everything  
Holding back our dreams and try (Marley: Holding back our dreams and try!)  
To make it come alive (Marley: Make it come alive!)  
Come on let it shine so they can see  
We were meant to be (Marley: We were meant to be!)  
Somebody (Marley: Somebody!)  
Somebody, yeah (Marley: Somebody!)  
Somehow, Someday  
Someway, Somebody

[Marley]  
Somebody!  
yeah!

Somebody

As soon as Marley finished singing, the audience broke out into a standing ovation, including the judges. Marley looked around to her teammates, seeing that they were also in tears, standing up there with strong faces. The judges once again sat down along with the crowd as New Directions next number came on with Tina, Marley, Brittany and Kitty standing front and center, with the other girls dancing as backup. The boys were able to use the girls' choreography in order to get off the stage cleanly and pristinely.

[Brittany]  
We come into this world unknown  
But know that we are not alone  
They try and knock us down  
But change is coming, it's our time now

[Marley]  
Hey, everybody loses it  
Everybody wants to throw it all away sometimes

[Tina]  
And hey, I know what you're going through  
Don't let it get the best of you, you'll make it out alive  
Oh

[Brittany and Kitty]  
People like us  
We gotta stick together  
Keep your head up  
Nothing lasts forever  
Here's to the damned  
To the lost and forgotten  
It's hard to get high  
When you're living on the bottom

[Brittany and Kitty with New Directions Girls]  
Oh, woah, oh, oh, woah, oh

[Marley and Tina]  
We are all misfits living in a world on fire

[Brittany and Kitty with New Directions]  
Oh, woah, oh, oh, woah, oh

[Marley and Tina]  
Sing it for the people like us  
The people like us

[Kitty]  
Hey, this is not a funeral  
It's a revolution after all your tears have turned to rage

[Marley and Tina]  
Just wait, everything will be okay  
Even when you're feeling like it's going down in flames, yeah

[Brittany and Kitty]  
People like us  
We gotta stick together  
Keep your head up  
Nothing lasts forever  
Here's to the damned  
To the lost and forgotten  
It's hard to get high  
When you're living on the bottom

[Brittany and Kitty with New Directions Girls]  
Oh, woah, oh, oh, woah, oh

[Marley and Tina]  
We are all misfits living in a world on fire

[Brittany and Kitty with New Directions]  
Oh, woah, oh, oh, woah, oh

[Marley and Tina]  
Sing it for the people like us  
The people like us

[Brittany and Kitty]  
They can't do nothing to you  
They can't do nothing to me  
This is the life that we choose  
This is the life that we lead

[Marley and Tina]  
So throw your fists in the air  
Come out, come out if you dare  
Tonight we're gonna change forever

[Marley]  
Hey…everybody loses it…  
Everybody wants to throw it all away sometimes

[Marley and Tina]  
People like us  
We gotta stick together  
Keep your head up  
Nothing lasts forever  
Here's to the damned  
To the lost and forgotten  
It's hard to get high  
When you're living on the bottom

[Brittany and Kitty with New Directions Girls]  
Oh, woah, oh, oh, woah, oh

[Marley and Tina]  
We are all misfits living in a world on fire

[Brittany and Kitty with New Directions Girls]  
Oh, woah, oh, oh, woah, oh

[Marley and Tina]  
Sing it for the people like us  
The people like us

[Brittany and Kitty with New Directions Girls]  
Oh, woah, oh, oh, woah, oh

[Marley and Tina]  
You've just gotta turn it up when the flames get higher

[Brittany and Kitty with New Directions]  
Oh, woah, oh, oh, woah, oh

[Marley and Tina]  
Sing it for the people like us

[Marley, Tina, Kitty and Brittany with New Directions Girls]  
The people like us

The New Directions had one last performance in their set-list and this was a song that was recommended at the last minute by the alumni to Mr. Schuester. All of New Directions got on the stage, standing there with confidence as the music started to play, New Directions danced around the stage, having a joyous time up there, remembering that their team and everyone around it was golden—and that included their late and great friend, Finn Hudson.

[Blaine and Sam with New Directions]  
Teenage dreams in a teenage circus  
Running around like a clown on purpose  
Who gives a damn about the family you come from  
No giving up when you're young and you want some

[Ryder]  
Running around again  
Running from running  
Running around again (Artie: Running around again)  
Running from running

[Jake]  
Waking up, in the midday sun  
What's to live for, you could see what I've done  
Staring at emotion in the light of day  
I was running from the things that you say

[Marley]  
We are not what you think we are  
We are golden, we are golden

[Marley and Artie with New Directions]  
We are not what you think we are  
We are golden, we are golden!

[Blaine and Sam with New Directions]  
Teenage dreams in a teenage circus  
Running around like a clown on purpose  
Who gives a damn about the family you come from  
No giving up when you're young an you want some

[Ryder]  
Running around again  
Running from running  
Running around again  
Running from running

[Marley and Tina]  
We are not what you think we are  
We are not what you think we are

[Marley, Tina and Artie with New Directions]  
We are not what you think we are  
We are golden, we are golden (Marley: Yeah!)

[Blaine, Artie, Ryder, Jake, Tina, Marley, Brittany and Sam with New Directions]  
Teenage dreams in a teenage circus  
Running around like a clown on purpose  
Who gives a damn about the family you come from  
No giving up when you're young and you want some

[Ryder]  
Running around again  
Running from running  
Running around again  
Running from running

[Marley]  
We are not who you think we are  
We are golden, we are golden  
We are not what you think we are  
We are golden, we are golden (YEAH!)

[New Directions]  
We are not what you think we are  
We are golden, we are golden!

Everyone in the stands stood up to give the New Directions a standing ovation. For the seniors, they looked around and realized that was it. That was their last performance in a National competition, ever. The sophomores and juniors smiled at one another, hoping that what they did sealed the deal and earned then the Nationals trophy. Even all of the other show choirs were standing and clapping for New Directions, giving them support. In the stands, the alumni had tears in their eyes but their frowns were replaced with smiles. When one of the arrogant members of The Hoosierdaddies looked to see everyone was clapping, she turned to Rachel, Puck and Quinn.

"Why is everyone standing and clapping?" The girl angrily pointed towards New Directions on stage. "They're our competition."

"Because life's too short to have enemies." Quinn quickly replied. "A very good friend of ours taught us that." The haughty girl then shrugged her shoulders then got up, clapping for the New Directions. Santana looked down at the choir teams and poked Rachel.

"Why are the Starlight Knights going to sing 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King'?' Santana scrunched up her face, trying to process their logic. Rachel simply laughed, wiping the tears from her face, then looked back at the New Directions.

* * *

After all the choirs had gone and some had moved into the Top 10, it was time for the judges to decide what was going to happen. Who was going to win it all at Nationals, and who was going home with second and third place trophies. Mariah, Paris and Ricky sat in the judging room, looking at their scorecards from the performances.

"All right, now we have to decide on the winners." Ricky put the scorecards down, turning to Paris and Mariah. "And this has to be unanimous."

"Well, I really liked The Hoosierdaddies." Mariah said. "Their performance of 'Hero' was simply moving—and amazing. It was…lustrous…it was ravishing…it was glorious!"

"Of course you'd like it, they did _your _song." Ricky muttered under his breath. "You know, out of the fifty choirs out there, about half of them did Mariah Carey! No, I think we should choose a group that was original and yet classy. What about the um…'New Directions.' They wrote an original song and their other performances were full of life."

"I didn't like them." Paris shrugged her shoulders, petting her dog. "I thought that they were boring. And they were off key."

"Says the girl that uses auto tune in her songs." Mariah looked away from Paris, fluffing her hair.

"So you had a problem with them?" Ricky questioned. "I liked them. I mean, they were real, they were raw and unlike half the acts, they showed emotion."

"But so did The Hoosierdaddies." Mariah chimed in.

"Now, The Hoosierdaddies were boring. I mean, sure Frida Romero can sing but there was something off about the performance, it was like…there was something missing. I mean, I love listening to Celine Dion as much as the next person but come on, back to back power ballads. It's Nationals. Have some fun here." Ricky snapped his fingers then let out a sigh. "But again, let's full circle back to the New Directions. They were hip, they were cool—and my goodness, give Marley Rose the phone book and she will sing it angelically. Her voice was so beautiful, especially during the original song."

"All right, one Marley Rose has nothing on me." Paris raised her hand.

"There's something we can agree on." Mariah huffily added.

"I mean, her hair looks like a bad dye job." Paris ignored Ricky, turning to Mariah.

"She doesn't have the same vocal range as me." Mariah pointed to herself. "There's nothing that little girl has against me."

"Do you hear yourselves?!" Ricky exclaimed. "You're supposed to be grading the teams instead you're getting on a 16 year olds case because of her hair and her vocal range! Look, we need to make a decision…have we all decided?" Mariah and Paris turned to Ricky, nodding their head. They had a winner…

* * *

The alumni entered the dressing room, seeing New Directions sitting there, looking as nervous as they possibly could be. Rachel walked over to Marley and Kitty, giving both of them a hug. Kitty turned her head to Rachel, giving Rachel a smile.

"You guys were all so great." Rachel finally said after a moment. "Finn would have been _so _proud of all of you."

"Do you really think so?" Ryder asked. Rachel considered Ryder's question a moment, seeming sure of herself, she nodded her head.

"Yes, he would have been proud." Rachel's voice cracked a bit. Puck put a hand on Rachel's shoulder as she let out a sigh. "Um, if it's okay Puck and I are going to the morgue so we can say goodbye to Finn before he's shipped to Lima."

"Of course, Rachel. Of course." Mr. Schuester walked up to Rachel, giving her a bear hug. "Thank you for everything that you've done for the New Directions this year. I really appreciate it." Rachel nodded her head, then turned to Puck who was heading towards the door. Mr. Schuester figured that New Directions was going to figure out their fate without Rachel, and it would have been entirely okay to do so.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the results were in and the announcer called New Directions, The Hoosierdaddies and The Starlight Knights to the stage to see who was going to win the solo awards, and then the entire thing. Who was going to win Nationals and have bragging right for another year? New Directions noticed Ricky Martin walking up the stage stairs and heading front and center.

"To announce the solo awards, I present to you…Mr. Ricky Martin." The announcer said. Ricky looked out to the crowd, then pulled open an envelope that had all the solo awards written on it.

"All right…the MVP Soloist of Nationals award goes to…" Ricky Martin looked to the three groups before letting out a smile. "Frida Romero of The Hoosierdaddies!" Frida walked up to the front of the stage, taking the MVP Award and putting it over her head as the crowd cheered. Frida then went back to her position. Ricky took out one more envelope, announcing the winner of Nationals. Which team would get the coveted trophy? "All right, in third place…" Ricky looked to the three teams, adding for dramatic effect. "The Starlight Knights!" The Starlight Knights seemed slightly disappointed that they lost out Nationals, but it was better being in third than not placing at all like the other teams. The Hoosierdaddies and New Directions stepped up, looking at the first place trophy. One team would get it…the other team would not. "Drumroll please…" As if on cue, Paris started doing the drumroll noise on the table—until her face turned into complete shock.

"My nail!" Paris screamed. "I just did these!" Ricky let out an exasperated sigh then focused his attention to the task. Marley and Frida exchanged serious glances, their face expressions weren't faltering as Ricky began to read the results.

"And the winner of the 2013 Midwestern Nationals Competition is…"

* * *

Rachel, Carole, Burt and Puck slowly walked through the morgue, unbelieving that Finn was here. All of their faces were blotchy from the crying they had done when they met up earlier. They wanted to believe that this was some sort of dream. They wanted to believe Finn would jump out of nowhere saying that he was fine. But they needed closure. They needed to accept the fact Finn was no longer with them—but Burt and Carole had to say they were surprised when they found out Rachel was pregnant. Normally they would say that Finn and Rachel would have been too young to have children, but given the circumstances, it seemed like this was everyone's chance to have a piece of Finn to hold onto. Rachel, Puck, Burt and Carole met with a staff worker that offered to take them to see Finn. Rachel wasn't ready for this—but she needed to know. She needed to see Finn one last time. Puck grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly, letting her know that everything was going to be okay. Rachel nodded her head slowly at Puck's gesture as they walked down to the room.

"Are you ready?" The woman asked Rachel. Rachel let go of Puck's hand as she walked over to the freezer drawers. Rachel slowly nodded her head as the woman opened the freezer door, Rachel taking in what was her husband now in a forever slumber.

* * *

Rachel reached the apartment late that night, going in to see Kurt and Santana sitting at the table. Rachel walked over to them, sitting in the seat that was normally hers. No one could sit in Finn's seat yet. No one. Kurt and Santana stared at Rachel for a moment, wondering how everything went.

"So, how was it?" Kurt questioned.

"Why didn't you go and see Finn one last time?" Rachel asked. Kurt let out a sigh, not sure how he could explain to Rachel that he would have gotten squeamish—then fainted.

"I couldn't bear the thought of seeing Finn there." Kurt admitted. "I mean, I don't want my last memory of Finn being him in a cold ice box, looking like he's sleeping when he's clearly not. Did you do okay though?" Rachel thought about Kurt's question for a moment, wondering if she really did do okay.

"Well, I felt like vomiting when I saw Finn just lying there." Rachel revealed. "But, in the end it was good for me. I needed some closure. I needed to know that he's not going to come back and that I have to stop going to the kitchen every morning, expecting that he'd be there. It was just something for me to digest. I'm going to miss him and I'll always love him…but one of the seven steps of grief is acceptance, and I think I'm finally there."

"That's good, Rachel." Santana patted Rachel's hand. Rachel gave a quizzical look towards Kurt and Santana, wanting to know something.

"So how was Nationals? Did New Directions win?" Rachel asked. Kurt and Santana's faces fell to a stunned silence. Rachel tried to study the face expressions, realizing that Kurt and Santana were about to tell her something that could have been entirely shocking and possibly change New Directions lives forever.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Hero by Mariah Carey (Sung by Frida Romero and The Hoosierdaddies), Power of Love by Celine Dion (Sung by Frida Romero and The Hoosierdaddies) Somebody by Bridgit Mendler* (Sung by Marley Rose and Brittany Pierce with New Directions), People Like Us by Kelly Clarkson (Sung by Marley Rose, Tina Cohen-Chang, Brittany Pierce and Kitty Wilde with New Directions Girls), We Are Golden by MIKA (Sung by New Directions)_

_* For the story, "Somebody" is an original composition written by Finn Hudson and Marley Rose_


	58. Rachel: Carry On

_**A/N: So here's what you missed on Glee. New Directions performed at Nationals and we still don't know who the winner is. Rachel had to come to terms with Finn's death and the only way that she knew how was to see him one last time before his body went to Lima. Frida Romero called a truce to New Directions after hearing about Finn which shattered the choir world. Rachel's pregnant and the baby is Finn's, and it's the only thing that she has left that's truly his. And that's what you missed on, **_**GLEE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. But I wish I did.**

**Note: I made two small references to the band Journey in this chapter. I'll leave you guys to figure out what it is. Oh, and also Rachel gains a guardian angel. Hmm, I wonder who it could be. Anyway, read onward and enjoy. **

* * *

Rachel took the midnight train to Lima, Ohio staring out the window and observing the surroundings before her. She watched some of the trees go by as her mind began to race about Finn. What he probably would have said if he found out she was pregnant, what he would possibly say if he found out about New Directions and Nationals. Rachel kept closing her eyes, envisioning his face. Envisioning every detail from his chocolate colored eyes, his awkward yet adorable smile, even his dark chocolate hair. She didn't want to ever forget what Finn looked like, what Finn sounded like, what he smelled like. Rachel wanted to have those memories with her. She finally opened her eyes and she was almost certain that in the reflection of the mirror—it was Finn! Rachel turned around, only to find that her chair was empty and that her tiredness was causing her to hallucinate.

"I must be imagining things…" Rachel muttered to herself. She felt her eyelids begin to droop as she felt sleep come over her, causing her to have one of the most vivid and wild dreams in her entire life.

* * *

_Rachel was standing on a Broadway stage, the same stage where she had her debut for Funny Girl. The same stage where Finn saw her in the audience along with Jesse St. James, cheering her on, letting her know how proud he was that she overcame all the obstacles and finally fulfilled her dream. Rachel walked along the stage, the clicking of her high heels following behind her. Rachel could have sworn that she saw someone standing by the entrance of the door. Rachel peered her head over towards the exit—trying to make out who it was._

"_I always seem to find you in here…" The voice said as Rachel started to make her way down the stairs. She looked over to the doorway, noticing that the voice belonged to Finn, standing there as if nothing had changed, as if he was alive and that all was well. The only thing about Finn that seemed different was his clothes. He was wearing all white. A white t-shirt, white jeans and he even wore white sneakers that had some gold fringing on them. "Every time that you worry about something your mind seems to wander away to the stage." Rachel quickly got off the stage, running towards Finn and wrapping her arms around him, holding him tightly as they embraced. The hug wasn't the same to Rachel since she couldn't feel the warmth in Finn's body, but instead—he was ice cold. Finn pulled Rachel back, gazing at her while releasing a grin._

"_Finn…oh my god." Rachel felt the tears stream down her face, staring into his eyes. "I…I can't believe it. You're here…but…you're not here." Rachel pressed a hand to Finn's face, but his face was ice cold as well. It was almost as if Finn was a vampire and lost the heat in his body the moment he died, just like in Twilight. _

"_I know…I know. It's kind of weird right?" Finn asked. He led Rachel to one of the chairs as the both of them sat down, gazing at one another "Look, I wanted to explain why I did what I did which ultimately led to me only being in your dreams from now on." Finn grabbed Rachel's hand, staring into her eyes. "I had to try to save that little kid. I kept thinking about what would have happened if I didn't. If I didn't try to save him. Ultimately, it cost me my life but I saw that the child was eventually with his mother. And it made me glad that I was able to sacrifice everything to save that kid. I know you don't understand now, but…"_

"_No." Rachel simply said, her face turning into a small smile. "I understand completely and given the consequences, you still did the right thing Finn." Rachel assured him. Finn let out a deep breath, staring back at Rachel with a grin._

"_So, you're probably wondering why I am in your dreams." Finn said, giving that goofy grin of his._

"_I was wondering that." Rachel admitted._

"_Because when I got to heaven, they gave me the option of being someone's guardian angel." Finn crossed his hands, staring into Rachel's eyes. "I mean, how could I pass up an opportunity to be your guardian angel and to guide you into making the right choices in life?"_

"_I'm really touched. I am." Rachel said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But I would have thought that you would have had angel wings or something."_

"_I have to earn those." Finn shrugged his shoulders, emitting a slight chuckle. "I spent the last couple of days, trying to find out how to get into your dreams. And now that I can, I can pop in whenever I need to in order to give you guidance." Rachel couldn't believe this. She knew that she was dreaming, but Finn as her guardian angel was a little too much. She didn't mind it of course, and at least she was able to keep a slight piece of Finn wherever she went. That reminded her that she had something to tell Finn, and now she was finally able to say it._

"_All right, I have something that I want to tell you." Rachel crossed her hands, staring at him._

"_What? You have to tell me." Finn urged her on. Rachel giggled, then nodded her head._

"_I'm pregnant." Rachel couldn't help but release a gigantic smile as Finn stared in shock, his shock turning into jubilation. _

"_A baby? Oh my god! Rachel…" Finn hugged Rachel tightly, Rachel trying to take in Finn's scent. She couldn't help but let out a giggle as Finn parted, staring into her eyes. "What? What is it?"_

"_You smell like cotton candy." Rachel couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Do they have cotton candy up there or something?"_

"_No, everyone smells sweet up there. I wanted to smell like cookies but that was taken already by my 3__rd__ grade teacher who apparently had a heart attack." Finn's face then twisted into worry. "I wonder if he ever forgave me for killing the class hamster."_

"_You killed the class hamster?" Rachel covered her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter. "What did you do and why did you never tell me this?"_

"_Before we all say I'm a hamster murderer, let's make it clear that it was an accident." Finn defended himself. "I didn't know that you were supposed to _feed_ the hamster." Finn and Rachel burst out into laughter, forgetting everything around them. After a moment, Finn wiped his tears then reached to touch Rachel's small stomach. "You're going to have a baby—and I'm going to be stuck in your dreams while you physically take care of it…"_

"_But you can always come in my dreams and ask me how the baby is doing and we can always sit in this auditorium and talk." Rachel motioned towards the auditorium._

"_I will take your offer on that." Finn nodded his head, then looked down. "Rachel, I am so sorry for everything I put you through. I know that my passing had to be extremely tough on you. But I don't want you to hide in your room and cry. I don't want you to go to the kitchen and not sit in my chair. I don't want you to not go to NYADA and mourn me. I lived my life. Was it short? Yes, but I lived it because I had never felt more alive than when I was with you. Do you remember during our senior year of High School and for Christmas I gave you a star that was named after me?"_

"_Yeah, I do remember…" Rachel mumbled. She stared into Finn's eyes, the tears coming back into hers. _

"_And do you remember what I said?" Finn asked. Rachel thought about it for a moment, shaking her head towards Finn. He grabbed Rachel's hand, his smile illuminating the auditorium. "I said, 'I wanted to make sure that when you were lonely, you could look up at the sky, and no matter where I am, you can know that I am looking down at you.' Do you remember _that_?" _

"_Yeah, I remember now." Rachel said as Finn wiped away some of her tears. _

"_Just remember Rachel, I am always there. I may not be there physically but I am there emotionally, and I want you to know just how much I love you and how proud I am of you every day. Don't you _ever_ forget that, Rachel." Finn pressed a kiss to the top of Rachel's head, then started to get up from his seat._

"_Wait, where are you going?" Rachel asked. Finn's face turned slightly serious as he stuffed his hands into his pockets._

"_I have to get back." Finn softly said. "But I promise that I will come into your dreams later if you'd like?" _

"_I'd love that." Rachel got up from the chair, staring Finn in the eyes. Finn looked down at her, putting a hand through her hair. "Finn?"_

"_Yes?" Finn whispered._

"_Before you go, can you do one thing for me?" Rachel asked. Finn nodded his head quickly, staring over at Rachel. "Kiss me. Please?" Finn didn't hesitate with Rachel's request as he pressed his lips to hers. Finn's lips felt cold against her warm lips, their lips brushing back onto one another. After what seemed like an eternity, Finn and Rachel parted, staring into each other's eyes. _

"_I love you, Rachel…" Finn said. Rachel nodded her head, putting her forehead to Finn's and giving him one last kiss before he left._

"_I love you too, Finn." Rachel muttered. Finn went around her, heading towards the auditorium door before turning back around and giving her a grin. _

"_Just so you know my dancing isn't as terrible as it used to be." Finn surprised Rachel by doing the moonwalk, leaving Rachel to be almost amazed._

"_That's incredible but—how did you do the moonwalk? You could never have done it when you were alive?" Rachel was so amazed with Finn's dancing; the words 'alive' and 'dead' didn't bother her in that moment._

"_I've been getting lessons." Finn shrugged his shoulders._

"_The King of Pop?" Rachel figured out right away._

"_Yep. Oh, but according to Whitney, I'm a lost cause when it comes to singing. I'll never have her vocal range." Finn gave one last grin before turning back towards the door. "I'll see you soon my shining star." And with that, the doors closed. Rachel's smile vanished and once again, she was alone in the auditorium. Finn was no longer there, and she turned around, staring back at the stage._

* * *

"Rachel? Rachel…" A voice tried to awake Rachel from her slumber. Rachel's eyes fluttered, realizing that it was her fathers LeRoy and Hiram staring over at their daughter. Rachel rubbed her eyes, sitting up straight and hugging them tightly, not wanting to let them go.

"Oh, how are you, sweetheart?" Hiram asked. Rachel nodded her head, brushing her bangs to the side as she got up from the seat of the train.

"I've been better." Rachel admitted, getting her small suitcase and leaving the train with her fathers. "How have you been?" LeRoy and Hiram stared at their daughter, giving her another embrace as they made their way outside of the train station.

"You were the one that has been through so much, losing your husband…and you're asking us if _we're_ okay?" LeRoy had to admit that he was baffled, but he placed a comforting arm around Rachel's shoulder as they made their way to the food court in the train station. "Come on, you might want to get something to eat before we drop you off at McKinley."

* * *

Five minutes later, Rachel, LeRoy and Hiram were sitting in a pizzeria, having a quick lunch before Rachel would head to McKinley and talk to Mr. Schuester and the Glee Club. Rachel fiddled with her pizza, staring down at the plain cheese pizza, then looked over to see her father's pizza with pepperoni. She found herself in a staring match with the pizza, licking her lips viciously.

"Um, Rachel? Did you want pepperoni instead?" Hiram asked her. Rachel felt slightly embarrassed that her fathers noticed, then nodded her head with a small smile.

"I find it a bit peculiar that you want to eat pepperoni, Rachel." LeRoy noted after Rachel took the pizza and bit into it. "Considering that you are vegan and all."

"Life's too short to not try new things." Rachel softly muttered, taking a bite of the pizza. "Finn taught me that."

"Speaking of Finn, you seemed like you were dreaming about something happy while you were on the train." Hiram said. "The conductor had to call us to come and get you, afraid that you wouldn't have wanted to come off."

"Yeah, um…I had a dream about Finn and it was happy, and beautiful." Rachel felt the tears come to her eyes as she quickly wiped them. "The dream I had made me realize—Finn's my guardian angel. He's always going to be with me, no matter what." Rachel figured that now would have been a good time to tell her parents the news. "Especially since I'm…_pregnant_." Hiram and LeRoy stared at Rachel for a moment, trying to comprehend if what Rachel was saying was true.

"You're…pregnant?" Hiram asked. Rachel then became firm as she crossed her arms.

"And I'm not getting rid of this baby." Rachel said. "It's Finn's…and it's the last thing I had to remind me of him."

"Rachel…we weren't going to suggest to get rid of the baby." LeRoy softly said. "If this is what you want…in order to be close to Finn, then you should do this. I just worry about _Funny Girl_ and NYADA. How can you possibly do both while you're pregnant?"

"I could always take a leave of absence for _Funny Girl _and I'll work something out with NYADA." Rachel said. Her face turned soft again, looking at her fathers. "Finn was my life, and this is the least I could do for him. This baby could change everything and even though my heart will never be the same, I'll still have Finn wherever I go when I look at my child." Rachel saw Hiram and LeRoy nodding their heads, agreeing with Rachel's logic.

"All right Rachel…" Hiram softly agreed. "But remember, if you need anything and I mean _anything_…you can always come home and ask for our help." Rachel leaned over to her fathers, giving them a huge hug while the tears streamed down her face. She then remembered something as she looked to both her fathers with a small smile.

"Do you still happen to have the clothes I _didn't_ bring to New York?"

* * *

Rachel walked along the hallways of William McKinley that afternoon, heading straight to the Glee Club room. However, the way that Rachel was dressed, you would have thought that she was she was still attending school there. Rachel Berry was wearing none other than her preppy schoolgirl outfit. She wore a collared white shirt, a yellow sweater with a white outlining of a deer, a plaid skirt, knee high socks and black penny loafers. She pushed her bangs to the side, wearing a colorful clip and just like Rachel Berry in the 10th grade, she wore little to no makeup whatsoever. Rachel stopped for a moment at what used to be Finn's locker, placing her hand on it and releasing a small smile. She was wearing this for him. She was doing this _for_ Finn. This was how she looked when she first met Finn Hudson and this was how she wanted to go to see the Glee Club. Rachel walked into the room as the Glee Club members were talking and buzzing about Nationals. Rachel looked into the cupboard where the trophies were—and right there, next to the trophy the New Directions won when Rachel was a senior was a first place trophy from this year's Nationals. She couldn't believe it. New Directions had done it again. They won it for Finn.

"Oh my god, Rachel?" Tina said which caused the other New Directions to turn around. Rachel walked into the room as Mr. Schuester let out a small smile.

"What on earth are you wearing?" Ryder couldn't help but try to contain his giggling.

"You look like a preppy girl." Kitty added playfully. Rachel emitted a small laugh, staring down at her outfit then back to the Glee Club kids.

"Believe it or not, this was what I wore when I first joined Glee Club." Rachel slightly chuckled. "I used to wear a lot of vests and skirts. But even when I dressed like a New York girl or an unpopular girl—Finn loved me no matter what. He didn't care how I dressed. He loved me for _me_." Rachel made emphasis on her clothes by tugging slightly on her skirt.

"Well, I think you look simply amazing, whether you're wearing that preppy skirt or wearing New York clothes." Marley said, clasping her hands together and giving Rachel a smile.

"Thank you guys…and I also have to thank you all for being there for me when I was at my lowest. Actually, I'm going to go to the psychiatrist that Finn wanted me to see when I was even lower than I am now. I need to talk to someone about my problems, and about Finn. It would be a good way to get it out in the open." Rachel then considered telling the New Directions about the dream she had that seemed so real. "Also, um…I had this really odd dream. I mean, it wasn't odd it was just—kind of a way for me to cope. Finn was in it. I was standing on this auditorium stage and he came in. We talked…he told me he was getting lessons about dancing from Michael Jackson but Whitney Houston told him that she couldn't help him with his singing. It was just—yeah…" Rachel felt a little embarrassed afterwards, but New Directions seemed impressed.

"If Finn really is up there getting lessons of dancing from Michael Jackson, then I am officially jealous, okay?" Artie leaned back in his chair and caused the other members of New Directions to laugh. They then turned to Rachel as she wiped some of the tears from her eyes, but the smile never faltering.

"I'm just glad that we were able to win Nationals for Finn. He deserved it so much after helping us throughout the year." Marley mentioned.

"When we won, we all cried." Brittany said, looking straight at Rachel. "Finn held the glue together as he helped with Sectionals. He was our teacher then. Then you all came and helped with Regionals, and then with Nationals. Finn was always there, right from the start. I just wish that there was something that we could do for him." Rachel thought for a moment, then nodded her head.

"There is something that we can do." Rachel walked over to Brittany, taking both her and Marley's hands and pulling them up from their seats. "Come on, all of you. To the auditorium." Rachel led the New Directions towards the auditorium and five minutes later, they were standing there with Brad at the piano. The New Directions did a quick costume change, paying homage to the old Rachel Berry, the girls wearing different colored deer shirts, plaid skirts, high socks and penny loafers. The boys were wearing white collared shirts, sweater vests, slacks and dress shoes, the boys' alternate clothing to what Rachel would normally wear. It was all in honor of how Finn saw the beauty in everything and everyone, including Rachel Berry when she didn't dress like one of the cool kids. Brad started to play a couple of chords as Rachel held her 'Finn' necklace close to her neck, closing her eyes and singing, soon with the rest of New Directions joining her.

[Rachel]  
Well I woke up to the sound of silence  
The cars were cutting like knives in a fist fight  
And I found you with a bottle of wine  
Your head in the curtains and heart like the Fourth of July

[Jake]  
You swore and said we are not  
We are not shining stars  
This I know, I never said we are

[Rachel and Jake]  
Though I've never been through hell like that  
I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back

[Rachel]  
If you're lost and alone  
Or your sinking like a stone  
Carry on, oh, oh, oh, on!

[Artie]  
May your past be your sound  
Of your feet upon the ground  
Carry on, oh, oh, oh, on!

[Rachel]  
Carry on, Carry on

[Ryder and Marley]  
So I met up with some friends  
At the edge of the night  
At a bar off 75

[Sam and Brittany]  
And we talked and talked  
About how our parents will die  
All our neighbors and wives

[Artie]  
But I like to think  
I can cheat it all

[Rachel]  
To make up for the times  
I've been cheated on

[Artie and Rachel]  
And it's nice to know  
When I was left for dead  
I was found and now I don't roam these streets  
I am not the ghost you are to me

[Kitty]  
When you're lost and alone  
And you're sinking like a stone

[Kitty and New Directions]  
Carry on, oh, oh, oh, on!

[Marley]  
May your past be your sound  
Of your feet upon the ground

[Marley with New Directions]  
Carry on, oh, oh, oh, on!

[Rachel]  
Woah!  
My head is on fire  
But my legs are fine  
After all they are mine  
Lay your clothes  
Down on the floor  
Close the door  
Hold the phone  
Show me how  
No one's ever gonna stop us now!

[Tina with New Directions]  
Cause we are  
We are like shining stars  
We are invincible  
We are who we are

[Sam and Blaine with New Directions]  
On our darkest day  
When we're miles away  
Sun will come  
We will find our way home

[Brittany]  
When you're lost and alone  
And you're sinking like a stone

[Brittany and New Directions]  
Carry on, oh, oh, oh, on!

[Artie]  
May your past be your sound  
Of your feet upon the ground

[Artie with New Directions]  
Carry on, oh, oh, oh, on!

[New Directions]  
Woah, oh, oh  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh  
Oh, oh, woah, oh oh [Rachel: Nothing's ever gonna stop us now!]  
Woah, oh, oh  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh  
Oh, oh, woah, oh oh [Rachel: Nothing's ever gonna stop us now!]

After the New Directions finished singing, they all came to Rachel for a gigantic group hug, giving her support and love in this difficult time for her. Rachel looked out to the auditorium, suddenly feeling more warmth than usual. And that was when she knew—Finn was hugging her from afar due to the beautiful song that New Directions put together. Rachel knew deep in her heart that Finn loved it as she stared up at the sky with a smile.

"Rachel?" A voice brought Rachel back to reality. She noticed Tina was staring, giving Rachel a smile. "Are you going to come to our graduation?" Rachel remembered that some of the New Directions were graduating next week, and that was when Rachel knew that she wouldn't have missed it for the world.

"Of course I will be there." Rachel promised, nodding her head with a grin. "There's nowhere that I would rather be than at your graduation." Rachel's grin soon vanished, realizing that after graduation—was Finn's funeral. Rachel wasn't looking forward to this, but she had to put on a brave face. She knew Finn would want her to celebrate his life, and not mourn his death. That was when Rachel had an idea. She only hoped that she would see Finn in her dreams tonight.

* * *

"_It was amazing, Finn…you should have seen it." Rachel was back in the same auditorium in her dreams that night, talking to none other than her guardian angel who was in the seat next to her. Finn stared at her, seeing that Rachel was excited about everything that happened earlier during the day. "I mean, I never thought that I would have the guts and courage to just go on that stage and just sing. When I was up there, it felt like you were there with me." _

"_Because I was." Finn said. "I mean, not physically but I was there spiritually. How did you feel when you were on that stage?"_

"_I felt happy. More happy than I've ever felt in my entire life. It made me realized that singing is my passion." Rachel gushed. She then looked down to her black dress with her black high heels, then back towards Finn. "I bet you noticed that I was wearing my old clothes from High School today. Better to wear them now than when I'm seven months pregnant." _

"_I saw…and you were beautiful." Finn took a hold of Rachel's hand, Rachel realizing that Finn's hand was freezing cold. "I actually missed that about you, your reindeer sweaters, your hair all parted to one side and what not. I also missed your plaid skirts and penny loafers."_

"_I'm surprised you know what they're called." Rachel chuckled, still staring at Finn. _

"_Hey, I may have selective hearing but that was one name for a shoe I was never going to forget." Finn shrugged his shoulders, giving Rachel an amused smirk. "Who's Penny and why did she make loafers?" Rachel started laughing at Finn's corny joke, intertwining her fingers with his. _

"_You do know that your funeral is right after graduation for some of the Glee members, right?" Rachel muttered, not wanting to think about that._

"_I know, but remember…even though I'm not _there_ anymore; it doesn't mean that I left. I just moved on to a different place." Finn softly said, moving his face closer to Rachel's. "And if you ever need me, then you can always dream and we can talk here. Okay?" Rachel nodded her head, then got up from the seat and started heading towards the stage. "Where are _you_ going?" _

"_To the stage. I had a song that I wanted to sing at your funeral at your mom's insistence. Do you mind if I sing it for you, and you let me know if I should change it or not?" Rachel asked. Finn leaned back in the chair, folding his hands while releasing a smile._

"_Sing it to me." Finn nodded his head, seeing a bit eager. Rachel got on the stage, magically seeing a mike stand there, along with a piano that started playing by itself. Rachel figured since this was a dream, things really _could _happen. Rachel stared at Finn as she started pouring her heart out to him, feeling tears slowly fall down her cheeks. While hearing Rachel sing, Finn felt the tears fall down his cheeks as well, listening to the beauty that was Rachel Berry._

_Heart beats fast  
Colors and promises  
How to be brave  
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall  
But watching you stand alone  
All of my doubts  
Suddenly goes away somehow_

_One step closer_

_I have died every day waiting for you  
Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more_

_Time stands still  
Beauty in all she is  
I will be brave  
I will not let anything take away  
What's standing in front of me  
Every breath, every hour has come to this_

_One step closer_

_I have died every day waiting for you  
Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more  
And all along I believed I would find you  
Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more_

_One step closer  
One step closer_

_I have died every day waiting for you  
Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more  
And all along I believed I would find you  
Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more_

_I will love you  
A thousand years_

_Ooooh_

_After Rachel finished singing, she waited to see what Finn had to say. He was simply speechless, he was amazed—he was crying. Finn wiped his tears, looking over at Rachel, finally getting up from his chair and walking to the front of the auditorium. He wrapped his arms around Rachel, holding her tightly, Rachel still amazed at the fact that he was—cold. _

"_Did you love it?" Rachel wiped a few of her tears, crinkling her nose as she sniffled, staring at Finn who pulled her back and looked her in the eye._

"_I thought it was simply beautiful." Finn whispered, Rachel holding onto him tightly. "I just want you to know one thing, Rachel." Rachel continued to stare at him, wondering what he was going to say next._

"_What is it?" Rachel muttered. The words that Finn said next, made Rachel's heart melt, causing her to release some tears and press a kiss to his frigid face. _

"_I'm forever yours…faithfully."_

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Carry On by fun! (Sung by Rachel Berry, Jake Puckerman, Artie Abrams, Ryder Lynn, Marley Rose, Sam Evans, Brittany Pierce, Tina Cohen-Chang and Blaine Anderson with New Directions), A Thousand Years by Christina Perri (Sung by Rachel Berry)_


	59. Goodbye, Finn: Part 1

_**"GLEE: Goodbye, Finn"  
**_**_PART 1_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I wish I did_**

**Note: This is the first part of the final two part chapter of this story, 'Goodbye, Finn'. Part 1 covers the graduation of some of Finn's old classmates and Rachel and Mr. Schuester will have a heart to heart talk about Finn. Part 2 will allow everyone who knew Finn to say their final goodbye's to him. After this two part chapter, it's the Epilogue and then that's the end. So, here it is. '_Glee: Goodbye, Finn'_**

* * *

Rachel abruptly woke up in the middle of the night when she felt a pang of nausea go through her. She quickly got out of bed and ran to the bathroom, throwing up her contents from dinner (not that she had eaten much). Rachel kneeled over by the toilet even long after she had finished vomiting, just thinking that there was no Finn to hold her hair or rub her back, telling her that everything was all right. Rachel heard the knock at the door, turning to it as the words of Finn's mother Carole came to her.

"Rachel honey, are you okay?" Carole asked from behind the door. Rachel flushed the toilet, got up and went to the sink, grabbing her toothbrush so she could brush her teeth. On the way of getting her toothbrush, she noticed she almost touched Finn's. Her hand stopped in midair, staring over at the brush that was just sitting there. She remembered the last time she and Finn stayed over at his house while training the New Directions for Nationals—remembering one of the most exciting bathroom experiences she could possibly have.

* * *

_Rachel stood in front of the mirror as she brushed her hair before bedtime. She was counting how many strokes she ran her brush through her hair, wanting to make sure that she got all the knots out. She heard someone knocking on the bathroom door, and judging by the voice behind the door, Rachel knew exactly who it was—Finn._

"_Rachel! I have to use the bathroom!" Finn shouted from behind the door. "You've been in there for a half hour. What are you doing in there anyway?" Rachel turned her head, becoming slightly annoyed._

"_Do I ask you what you're doing in the bathroom when you're in here?" Rachel smirked, turning her head back towards the mirror. "I don't think so. But if you must know I am combing my hair so that it's extra shiny."_

"_That's a myth." Finn yelled behind the door. "Now can you open the door please? We're married; I don't think it's much of an issue if we're both in the bathroom at the same time." _

"_Hmm…since you put it that way…" Rachel started to think then shrugged her shoulders. "No."_

"_Rachel!" Finn continued to shout. Rachel began to feel bad that she left Finn out there, so she decided to just open the door and finish her hair brushing in the bedroom. She opened the door, but instead of expecting Finn to come to the bathroom, she noticed he was holding a laser shooter, wearing equipment as if he was playing laser tag._

"_Quick, let me hide in there with you." Before Rachel could object, Finn entered the bathroom, hiding in the shower. Rachel chuckled, closing the door behind her as she went to open the shower curtain. Rachel opened the curtain, staring at Finn with a smirk. _

"_Who are you playing against and why are you playing in the house?" Rachel questioned, trying to bring reason to him. "You know that your parents aren't going to like that."_

"_I'm playing against Blaine and Kurt and they're really good." Finn answered, pulling Rachel into the shower with him. "Come on, before they find us." Rachel couldn't help but let out a giggle as Finn pulled her close to him, snuggling close. _

"_Finn!" Rachel squealed as Finn continued to hold her close. "I have to comb my hair." Finn and Rachel continued to stare at each other but Finn playfully shushed her._

"_They're going to find us." Finn said as Rachel tried to get out of his grasp. _

"_No, they're going to find _you_." Rachel emphasized as she continued to try to get out of his grasp. _

"_Why can't we hide together?" Finn let out a smirk. Rachel chuckled, pressing a kiss to Finn's nose._

"_Because I'm not playing." Rachel simply answered, still trying to get out of his grasp. "Now if you will let me go." But Finn refused to let her go, letting out his signature grin. Rachel turned to the shower nozzle, then back to Finn. She had a way of getting Finn to let go of her—but it was going to involve both of them getting wet. Rachel put her free hand on the shower nozzle as Finn's smile disappeared and his eyes widening. _

"_Rachel…what are you doing?" Finn asked, seeing that Rachel still had her hand on the nozzle._

"_Let me go Finnegan, or I will open the water and you will get soaked." Rachel threatened playfully. _

"_Oh please, you won't do it." Finn scoffed. Rachel raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming on her face, turning the nozzle as the water fell on both Finn and Rachel. Finn seemed surprised that Rachel actually did it but Rachel laughed noticing Finn's face expression. "So cold!" Finn exclaimed at the cold water._

"_They say cold water is good for hair." Rachel laughed. Finn pulled Rachel closer to him as the water hit both of them, their clothes becoming soaked._

"_Oh really…" Finn leaned his face closer to Rachel's as her giggling slightly subsided. Finn pressed his lips to Rachel's, the water beating down her face as the couple started making out, forgetting that they were soaking wet and that Finn was playing laser tag. Rachel and Finn's make out session was interrupted when the shower curtain opened and Kurt was pointing a laser gun towards him._

"_Got you Hudson." Kurt said, pressing the button on his laser gun, causing Finn's vest to light up. Finn shrugged his shoulders as if the game didn't matter, then turned back to Rachel. _

"_Great, go find Blaine." Finn muttered against Rachel's lips as the couple began making out again. Kurt closed the shower curtain leaving Rachel and Finn to themselves. Rachel ran her hands through Finn's wet hair, her eyes slightly opening as she pushed him against the wall of the shower. Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel's waist, pulling her closer to him while their lips crashed upon each other, the kisses turning passionate and sensual. Finn and Rachel finally parted when they realized that they were in the shower with the water hitting against their backs, their eyes giving one another the go-ahead sign that they both wanted more. Finn reached over for the tap on the shower, turning off the water as Rachel let out shallow breaths and emitting a smirk. "Your hair is wet." Finn said after a moment, causing Rachel to chuckle._

"_Gee, I didn't notice." Rachel said with humorous sarcasm. Rachel opened the shower curtain, grabbing Finn's hand as they got out of the shower. Rachel then reached for a towel as she started to dry off her hair. It looked like she was going to have to blow dry her hair again in the morning. "Well, there's no point of me being in the bathroom now. Do you still have to go?" Rachel bit her lower lip, looking towards her husband. Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel, shaking his head and pressing a kiss on her lips._

"_No, I don't have to go…" Finn murmured. Finn and Rachel continued pressing kisses on each other's lips. After a moment, Finn picked Rachel up bridal style and led her to their bedroom causing Rachel to laugh and wrap her arms around Finn's neck. _

* * *

Rachel didn't notice that she had spent the last five minutes reminiscing about Finn, and she certainly didn't notice that Carole opened the bathroom door, staring over at Rachel. Carole walked over to Rachel slowly, placing a hand on Rachel's shoulder. Rachel turned to face Carole as Carole took Rachel's toothbrush from the cabinet.

"Was this what you were looking for?" Carole asked softly. Rachel took the toothbrush but suddenly felt nauseous all over again. Rachel got out of Carole's grasp, heading towards the toilet and making it just in time as she emptied her contents into the bowl. Rachel coughed while Carole grabbed her hair, rubbing her back in circles soothingly. After Rachel finished throwing up she started crying—something she wasn't really expecting of herself. Carole leaned down towards Rachel as she handed her daughter-in-law some tissue for Rachel to wipe her mouth. Rachel wiped around her mouth, still crying as she leaned into Carole and held her tightly. Carole felt some tears come to her eyes as well, gripping Rachel tightly as they both sat on the bathroom floor, crying together. "Just know Rachel…that Finn loved you _so_ much. He really was an amazing man." Rachel gripped to Carole's arms, her crying turning into sobs.

"I just want Finn back. I'd give up everything just to have him back." Rachel spoke between sobs.

"Honey, I would give away everything to get Finn back too." Carole wiped her tears, still holding Rachel. "I would give away all that I have; I'd even give away my home just to see my son alive one more time. But you have to know, Finn would want us to be strong. He wouldn't want us to cry."

"I know he wouldn't and…I dreamt about him the other night with him saying he doesn't want me to cry—but I can't help it." Rachel sniffled, the tears streaming down her face and hitting the floor. "I want him next to me again. I want him to sleep next to me. I want him to make love to me as he did so many times before. I want him to tell me I'm beautiful and I'm sexy. I want him to sing with me since his voice compliments mine so well. I want _him_."

"Oh honey…I know, I know." Carole nodded her head. Rachel and Carole didn't notice Burt entering the bathroom, watching Rachel and Carole shed some tears. Burt walked over to them, leaning down to stare at them.

"What's going on?" Burt softly asked as Rachel wiped her tears.

"We…m..miss…_Finn!_" Rachel screeched then turned into a crying mess all over again. Burt nodded his head, wrapping his arms around Carole and Rachel as they all sat there for a moment.

"Finn was a great kid…" Burt softly said. He then turned to Rachel, wiping some of the tears from her face. "Rachel, he loved you. He wouldn't stop talking about you. Even when he told me all about his adventures in New York from when he visited you and Kurt the first time. He was constantly, 'Rachel and I did this.' 'Rachel and I did that', 'Burt, you should have seen how beautiful Rachel looked.' 'Mom, did you know that Rachel goes to NYADA?' Yeah, Finn would try to figure out ways to mention you. And every time he mentioned you—we'd never shut him up. We had never seen Finn so happy in our entire lives. Rachel it was _you_ that made Finn so happy and he felt like he had a sense of purpose. He wanted to be a teacher; he wanted to go to college in order to get the best damn education he could possibly get. When he told us he got into NYADA, I had to wonder how he did it, but he put his mind to it because he wanted to be there with_ you._ Rachel. That was what he always wanted. He wanted to be with you. He was always telling me how he couldn't wait to have kids and watch them grow up while you and him grew old. Every time he talked about the future, you were always involved. It kind of made me think that he loved you more than us." Burt chuckled before his face became serious. "If you feel like crying over Finn, it's perfectly fine because that just shows that you loved him as much as he loved you." Rachel wiped her tears, embracing both Carole and Burt.

"Thank you both so much for all that you've done for me…" Rachel said softly. Burt and Carole stared over at Rachel, shaking their heads.

"No…thank _you_ for what you did for _us_…and for Finn." Carole whispered. Rachel nodded her head, hugging them once more and for the first time in a while—she started to smile when she felt the warmth all over again. It was almost like—Finn was joining the hug with them. It was a picture perfect family moment—almost.

* * *

The next morning, Rachel entered William McKinley High, finding seniors donning red cap and gowns. Rachel wasn't entirely dressed for the occasion of a graduation: she was wearing a black turtleneck, blue skinny jeans and black knee high boots. She also took the ombre highlights out of her hair, her hair once again the copper brown that Finn always said he loved—although Finn loved whatever she did to her hair. Rachel had somewhere she had to be right after the graduation ceremony—Finn's funeral. Rachel walked along the hallways but stopped short when she saw the Glee Club room. She slowly walked in the room, clutching her hands together as she noticed the drum set that was in the corner. Rachel remembered when Finn was offering to teach her how to play the drums. She wasn't a pro at it, but at least Finn taught her how to do a drum roll. Rachel found herself looking around at the empty chairs. Spotting the chairs that she and Finn would sit in, Rachel walked over and sat down in her old seat, imagining that Finn was sitting next to her, getting ready for the next lesson from Mr. Schuester. Finn was enthusiastic most of the time when it came to the new lessons that Mr. Schuester presented to them. She remembered a couple that he was somewhat skeptical—the Lady Gaga week where they each wore odd costumes that were inspired by Lady Gaga herself. Rachel smiled slightly at the memory of him standing up to Azimo and Karofsky, letting them know that what they did was wrong and that they shouldn't have picked on Kurt. She then thought about when Finn made a deal with Rick the Stick, betting that Finn and New Directions would win Nationals. The money would have gone towards the honeymoon that never happened. She then remembered the day that Finn drove her to the train station to put her on a train to New York, the words that he said echoing through her mind.

"_You're going to get on that train and go to New York…and you're going to be a star. Without me. That's how much I love you." _

Rachel felt her heart almost break in a million pieces remembering that scene. She couldn't believe that it was all over. Finn would only be with her in her dreams and she would never, ever—see him again. Rachel walked over to the piano, sitting down and playing with the few keys that were on it. She didn't notice Mr. Schuester listen behind her as she started playing a song on the piano, her vocals filling the room as tears streamed down her face, thinking about how much she wanted Finn here with her.

I can be tough  
I can be strong  
But with you  
It's not like that at all  
There's a girl  
That gives a  
Behind this wall  
You just walk through it

And I remember all those crazy things you said  
You left them running through my head  
You're always there, you're everywhere  
But right now I wish you were here  
All those crazy things we did  
Didn't think about it, just went with it  
You're always there, you're everywhere  
But right now I wish you were here

Damn, Damn, Damn  
What I'd do to have you here, here, here  
I wish you were here  
Damn, Damn, Damn  
What I'd do to have you near, near, near  
I wish you were here

I love the way you are  
It's who I am  
Don't have to try hard  
We always say,  
Say it like it is  
And the truth  
Is that I really miss

All those crazy things you said  
You left them running through my head  
You're always there, you're everywhere  
But right now I wish you were here  
All those crazy things we did  
Didn't think about it, just went with it  
You're always there, you're everywhere  
But right now I wish you were here

Damn, Damn, Damn  
What I'd do to have you here, here, here  
I wish you were here  
Damn, Damn, Damn  
What I'd do to have you near, near, near  
I wish you were here

No, I don't wanna let go  
I just wanna let you know  
I don't ever wanna let go  
No, I don't wanna let go  
I just wanna let you know  
I don't ever wanna let go

Damn, Damn, Damn  
What I'd do to have you here, here, here  
I wish you were here  
Damn, Damn, Damn  
What I'd do to have you near, near, near  
I wish you were here

Damn, Damn, Damn  
What I'd do to have you here, here, here  
I wish you were here  
Damn, Damn, Damn  
What I'd do to have you near, near, near  
I wish you were here

Rachel sat at the piano for a few more moments, until she covered her eyes with her hands and started crying. Mr. Schuester walked towards Rachel, sitting down at the piano next to her. He had to admit that he was a bit saddened that Rachel was the one that was suffering the most through this ordeal. He wondered if he should have said something to her, just so she knew that he was listening. Mr. Schuester cleared his throat, deciding to try to go for it.

"Rachel…" Mr. Schuester softly said. Rachel looked to her former Glee Club mentor, trying to piece the words together about how she felt about Finn just leaving this earth the way he did. In the end, there were no words to say as she hugged Mr. Schuester tightly, letting the tears fall. "Rachel…you have to know that…"

"…know that Finn loved me! I know! Why is everyone telling me that!" Rachel exclaimed, letting go of the hug from Mr. Schuester and getting up from the piano. She didn't know what to say anymore. Everyone was telling her the same thing and it was beginning to make her feel sick. "That has been all anyone has been telling me! Kurt, Santana, my dads, Burt, Carole and now you! Everyone is telling me that! If Finn loved me so much then why did he go away?! Why didn't he fight for his life at the hospital! Why isn't he here at the graduation of some of his New Directions teammates? Huh? Why isn't he here?! Why did that guy have to pull the trigger because Finn was trying to be noble?! WHY?!" Rachel had tears streaming down her face as she was fuming towards Mr. Schuester. All Mr. Schuester did was stay quiet, letting Rachel finish her rant. "That mother has her child, the cops have their guy! But what do I have? I have nothing! Finn was ripped away from me and no matter how hard I try and wish and hope, Finn is _never_ coming back! I don't get to be with him! I don't get to see him and do you know why?! Because he's _dead!_ He's dead…he's dead and he's in the ground and he's gone forever! What do I have?! Finn's gone so what's the point of living…?" Rachel sat down in one of the chairs that were there as she ran her fingers through her hair. "There's nothing left for me here. Finn was my life. Without him, I'm…lost. I'm vain. And I will_ never_ be the same."

"What about the baby you're having, Rachel?" Mr. Schuester wondered, folding his hands together while looking at her. "That baby is the result of you and Finn showing just how much you both loved each other. You're right—things are never going to be the same and there's a very good chance that you won't be the same either, but that baby needs you. That baby needs its mommy, and that mommy is _you_. I understand that what happened to Finn has you wishing that you could bring him back. But the unfortunate thing Rachel is—you can't. You can't bring Finn back. As much as we all want to bring Finn back, we just can't. All we can do is move forward and try to cope with this. I know you're hurt and I'm extremely sorry, Rachel. I am. But death is a part of life. It's inevitable and we all have to face it at some point in our lives. Unfortunately, Finn had to face it earlier than others. Rachel, you have to know that when people tell you that Finn loved you, that it's an understatement. Finn _adored_ you. He _worshiped _you. He thought that you were the most important thing in his life. He asked me how he could get into NYADA because of _you_. He felt you were his whole life, and that wasn't going to change. He cared so much about you Rachel, more than any one. He was the light of New Directions…and…" Mr. Schuester choked up a bit, thinking about a memory of Finn. "If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be where we were today." Mr. Schuester felt some tears fall from his eyes as he wiped them slowly. "Did I ever tell you about how Finn came into the Glee Club?"

"I just figured he joined because it was fun." Rachel said, not quite sure _how_ Finn joined Glee Club.

"He joined because I blackmailed him with pot." Mr. Schuester admitted. "It wasn't his pot. It was mine that I got from Sandy, the former head of the Glee Club. Anyway, I scared him into joining Glee Club because I knew from the moment I heard him sing in the shower that he enjoyed singing. He brought so much light into the room, whenever he started singing with you it was like something magical just clicked. I'm not gonna lie, when he died I was hysterical. I locked myself in my rental car, sitting in it, crying my eyes out. I didn't have many friends my own age—as you kids know, but Finn was always there. He never left. Just thinking about next year, coming into this room, knowing Finn's not going to come in and sing, it's breaks my heart." Rachel looked to Mr. Schuester, nodding her head slowly.

"Finn was a great person." Rachel moved her hair from her face. "I just can't believe that he's gone."

"He's not really gone." Mr. Schuester gave a teary-eyed smile to Rachel. "When someone dies, they're not really gone. They're just in a special place. They're always going to be in your heart, in your memories; heck…Finn will still be there even when you sing." Rachel chuckled at the singing comment, then her face turned serious.

"I've been thinking a lot about Finn, lately." Rachel admitted. "I've been thinking of memories that I've had with him and I just wish that I could have made some more memories."

"You may not be able to make some memories with Finn…" Mr. Schuester got up from the piano, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "But you can make memories with the new baby that you and Finn created." Rachel nodded her head, giving Mr. Schuester a grin.

"Thank you Mr. Schue." Rachel said. "And I'm sorry for all the…yelling."

"It's okay." Mr. Schuester assured her. "You're allowed to get upset. This is an upsetting thing. But remember…we just have to 'keep holding on'." Rachel hugged Mr. Schuester once more, the both of them getting up from their seats.

"Come on, let's go watch some kids graduate." Mr. Schuester rubbed her back soothingly. "It will help for later…" Rachel knew what Mr. Schuester was talking about, heading out the door and going to the auditorium to attempt to enjoy a joyous occasion.

* * *

Santana and Kurt sat in their seats in the auditorium, staring over at the stage where the graduates were to take their place soon. It was a hectic year for both them, Blaine and Brittany but in the end, they were all together and happy. They only wished that Finn and Rachel had the same successful conclusion as they did. Santana took out some tissues and handed one to Kurt as Kurt let out a small grin.

"Can you believe it?" Kurt said to Santana as Santana let out a smile.

"Yeah…our babies are finally graduating." Santana dabbed her eyes with the tissue as Kurt chuckled.

"And thanks to you, we now sound old." Kurt joked. Santana couldn't help but let out a smirk to Kurt, staring back at the stage. "How do you think Rachel is doing?"

"Hey guys, looking for me?" Rachel said as if it was on cue. Santana patted the empty seat, grinning towards Rachel as Rachel took the seat. Santana embraced Rachel, then Rachel reached over to give a hug to Kurt.

"You okay, Broadway?" Kurt asked, putting a strand of Rachel's hair behind her ear.

"I'm going to be…" Rachel wasn't quite sure what caused her to say those words, but Santana and Kurt felt that this was the step in the right direction. Rachel sat in her seat and rubbed her stomach. She wasn't showing yet, but she knew the baby was there—and it was hers and Finn's. The lights dimmed as the graduation got underway. Principal Figgins went up to the stage, looking out at the gigantic audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to our graduation ceremony where we say goodbye to the class of 2013." The audience clapped, then Principal Figgins nodded his head. "Before we continue, I would like for us to have a moment of silence for an alumni who tragically passed away, trying to save the life of a young child. Let us have a moment of silence for Mr. Finn Hudson, otherwise known as one half of 'Finchel'." Rachel stood quiet, thinking about Finn—in fact, that was all she thought about. Santana place a hand on Rachel's shoulder, rubbing it soothingly as Rachel gave Santana an expression that let her know she was all right. After the moment was up, Principal Figgins nodded his head. "Thank you. Now, let us bring in the graduates and we shall start the ceremony." The graduates started walking in one by one (or in Artie's case, wheeling in). Kurt and Santana looked out at the graduates, trying to spot Brittany and Blaine. They were successful as Brittany and Blaine waved back at them. Rachel couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of Kurt and Santana. They still had their soul mates, why couldn't Rachel have hers? When the graduates were seated, Principal Figgins motioned Brittany, Blaine, Tina, Sam and Artie to the stage, which caused Rachel's interest to increase. What were they doing? "And now, the graduating members of the 2013 National Champion Glee Club would like to say some words and lead us into song." Principal Figgins went to go sit down as the five graduating members stood there, their expressions somber.

"Thank you, Principal Figgins." Tina said. She then looked out towards Santana, Kurt and Rachel, her eyes focusing on her idol. "When we heard that Finn passed, we didn't know what to think. We were all worried about how Rachel Berry would hold up. We were worried about what would happen to the Glee Club at Nationals without our leader. We were worried about the thought of losing him forever. The thought became a reality, and we weren't quite sure we wanted to deal with it. We didn't know how to deal with it. Finn had been with us since day one, singing Grease while Rachel danced circles around him with her moon-eyed stare."

"He tried out for the Cheerios with his terrible dancing." Brittany added, tears forming in her eyes. "He didn't make the cut. Instead—Sue Sylvester thought that his dancing was an abomination to dancing everywhere and he would make Michael Jackson roll in his grave if M.J ever saw Finn dance. Anyway, we want to dedicate our performance to Finn, because without him we wouldn't be where we are today. We wouldn't be champions about to breakaway into the real world. We love you Finn, and this is for you." The crowd clapped as Brittany took a step back. The Glee Club members that weren't graduating took their place behind the graduates, offering to be background vocals and the occasional 'oohs' and 'ahh's.' The music started to play as the five graduates looked at one another, then back towards the crowd, shedding tears for their fallen comrade on a day that was supposed to be joyful.

[Brittany]  
Da da, da, da, da  
Da, da, da, da, da  
Da, da, da, da, da, da  
Da da, da, da, da  
Da, da, da, da, da  
Da, da, da, da, da, da

Grew up in a small town  
And when the rain would fall down  
I'd just stare out my window  
Dreaming of what could be  
And if I'd end up happy  
I would pray

[Tina with Brittany]  
Trying hard to reach out  
But when I tried to speak out  
Felt like no one could hear me  
Wanted to belong here  
But something felt so wrong here  
So I'd pray  
I could breakaway

[Tina and Brittany with New Directions and Class of 2013]  
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky  
Make a wish, take a chance  
Make a change, and breakaway  
Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget all the ones that I love  
I'll take a risk, take a chance  
Make a change, and breakaway

[Brittany]  
Da da, da, da, da  
Da, da, da, da, da  
Da, da, da, da, da, da

[Blaine]  
Wanna feel the warm breeze  
Sleep under a palm tree  
Feel the rush of the ocean

[Artie]  
Get aboard a fast train

[Sam]  
Travel on a jet plane

[Blaine, Artie and Sam]  
Far away, and breakaway

[Tina and Brittany with New Directions and Class of 2013]  
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky  
Make a wish, take a chance  
Make a change, and breakaway  
Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget all the ones that I love  
I'll take a risk, take a chance  
Make a change, and breakaway

[Tina and Brittany]  
Buildings with a hundred floors  
Swinging with revolving doors  
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but  
Gotta keep moving on, moving on  
Fly away, breakaway

[Tina and Brittany with Blaine, Artie and Sam with Class of 2013]  
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly

[Tina]  
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye

[Tina and Brittany with New Directions and Class of 2013]  
Take a risk, take a chance  
Make a change, and breakaway  
Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget the place I come from  
I gotta take a risk, take a chance  
Make a change, and breakaway  
Breakaway

[Brittany]  
Breakaway

The auditorium burst into cheers as the graduates wiped the tears they had off their face. Brittany looked to the sky, looking as if she was telling Finn that this was for him, while Tina hugged Blaine, Artie and Sam. Rachel clapped her hands, seeing as if she was actually happy. She looked to Santana and Kurt who nodded their heads. Rachel hoped that Finn saw that—and if he did see it, he should have been touched. That was all for him. The enormous amounts of love in the room were for him—and that performance gave Rachel a new outlook on how she was going to approach his funeral. She was going to approach it with the mindset that Finn brought joy into the world, and that there would be no tears from her once she set foot in that church.

* * *

_Song(s) Featured: Wish You Were Here by Avril Lavigne (Sung by Rachel Berry), Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson (Sung by Brittany Pierce, Tina Cohen-Chang, Blaine Anderson, Artie Abrams and Sam Evans with New Directions and the Class of 2013). _


End file.
